India’s kraft paper segment is undergoing a structural shift, with premiumisation, fiber security and cost efficiency emerging as critical success factors. In an exclusive interview with Paper Mart, Mr. Madhukar Mishra, Managing Director, Star Paper Mills Limited, shares how the company is positioning itself at the premium end of the kraft spectrum. He discusses demand drivers such as e-commerce, long-term fiber strategy through social forestry, energy cost challenges, focus on quality and efficiency, and the steps required for Indian kraft producers to remain competitive amid rising imports and pricing pressure.
Paper Mart: How would you characterise the scale and product mix of your kraft paper and kraftliner business today? How do you see this portfolio evolving over the next few years?
Madhukar Mishra: Kraft paper and kraftliner together form the largest segment of India’s paper industry. However, Star Paper operates at the premium end of this spectrum and does not participate in lower-end kraftliner grades. The company is well recognised for the quality and performance of its high-end kraft products. As India’s economy expands and customer requirements become more sophisticated, Star Paper intends to deepen its focus on premium grades rather than chase volume-led growth.
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PM: What factors are currently driving demand for kraft paper in India? Are there specific end-use segments shaping the next phase of growth?
MM: E-commerce has emerged as the single biggest growth driver for kraft paper demand in recent years. Alongside this, rising consumption levels are leading to higher demand for shipping containers, which further supports kraft paper usage. We expect both these trends to remain strong and continue driving demand over the next few years.
Our immediate investment focus is on improving operational efficiency, enhancing product quality and reducing costs.
PM: Fiber security remains a recurring concern for the Indian paper industry. How are you approaching long-term access to virgin pulp, and how do you manage quality and price volatility?
MM: Star Paper is a completely virgin pulp-based mill. Anticipating wood resource constraints early, we invested heavily in social forestry more than two decades ago. Today, we facilitate the plantation of significantly more trees annually than our consumption requirements. Price volatility in pulp is largely driven by external global factors and remains beyond industry control. Expanding fiber supply is the only meaningful mitigation. Recent government notifications enabling leasing of forest land could offer a long-term solution, provided they translate into economically viable captive plantations.
PM: What are the key cost pressures you face today, and how are you addressing them?
MM: Cost pressures vary across companies based on product mix and location. For Star Paper, energy cost is a major challenge due to our distance from coal mining regions. To mitigate this, we are actively exploring renewable energy options and enhancing captive cogeneration capacity to improve energy efficiency and cost competitiveness.
Our core customer base spans flexible packaging and industrial coating applications, including soap wrapping, barrier-coated papers, food wrapping, and related specialty uses.
PM: How are customer expectations evolving, particularly around performance, consistency and lightweighting?
MM: Lightweighting has been a long-standing trend and is expected to continue as customers focus on reducing their own costs. Additionally, rising competition and increasing imports have made customers more demanding across all aspects of the supplier relationship, including quality consistency, reliability and service levels.
PM: Where are you currently directing investments—capacity expansion, efficiency, sustainability, or elsewhere? What is guiding these decisions?
MM: Our immediate investment focus is on improving operational efficiency, enhancing product quality and reducing costs. These priorities are essential to maintain competitiveness in a challenging market environment.
As India’s economy expands and customer requirements become more sophisticated, Star Paper intends to deepen its focus on premium grades rather than chase volume-led growth.
PM: Sustainability is becoming central to business decisions. How is this influencing your investments and customer engagement?
MM: Sustainability has long been embedded in our operations through sustained wood regeneration initiatives that ensure long-term fiber availability. In addition, we are increasingly evaluating renewable energy solutions to reduce our environmental footprint and align with evolving customer expectations.
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PM: Looking ahead, what will Indian Kraft and containerboard producers need to get right over the next decade to stay competitive?
MM: Consistent improvement in product quality will be critical for long-term success. At the same time, sustained pressure from imports and pricing competition will require producers to maintain a sharp focus on cost management and operational efficiency.
Production
• Kraft Paper Grades Manufactured by your Company: Absorbent Kraft, Kraft Plain, Star Atlas, High Strength Kraft Grades, Masking Paper, Ribbed Kraft, SS Kraft Plain, SS Kraft Titan, and other specialised kraft grades.
• Kraft Paper Manufacturing Capacity and Mill Location: 75,000 MTPA (switchable between kraft, writing/printing, and other grades). Located in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
• Actual Kraft Paper Produced in the year 2024–25: ~40,000 MTPA.
