With two decades of expertise in papermaking, Silverton Pulp and Papers has a production capacity of approximately 200,000 tons per annum which they intend to increase to 300,000 tons annually with the introduction of a new specialty packaging-grade paper line, scheduled to commence operations in May 2025. In an exclusive interview with Paper Mart, Mr. Akshay Jain, Managing Director, Silverton Pulp & Papers Private Limited, shed light on the company’s ambitious plans to enter the label industry and the flexible packaging sector, along with the cooler industry, supported by their latest innovation—wet-strength absorbent paper.
Paper Mart: Please tell us about your company and help us understand the manufacturing setup you have. What technologies have you integrated into the system to enhance product quality & operational efficiency?
Akshay Jain: Silverton Pulp and Papers has 20 years of vast experience in paper making, with a team of more than 1000 people, and having 3 machines for making different grades of paper with the finish deckle of 3650 mm, 2950 mm, and 2200 mm. All our machines are multiwire machines, making value-added products- both bleached and unbleached. We have an in-house cogeneration capacity of 21 megawatt with the state-of-the-art effluent treatment plant, having anaerobic digester.
We are working towards sustainability by establishing waste-to-energy boilers, generating gas out of our effluent, with the setup of anaerobic digester and making products which are helpful in replacing single use plastic. Our plants are all DCS-based to ensure consistency and ease of operation.
Currently, our production is 200,000 tons per annum and we are coming up with a new specialty packaging grade paper line of 100,000 tons per annum, which will increase our overall capacity to 300,000 tons per annum. We will start the production from the new plant from May 2025.
PM: What product range do you cater to the market? How much has the range diversified over the years?
AJ: We have vast range of bleached and unbleached segments such as virgin kraft liner, virgin top liner, white top liner, 22-40 bf kraft paper, Korean kraft paper, wet strength absorbent kraft paper, kraft for e-commerce bags, kraft for carry bags, both bleached and unbleached, interleaving kraft paper, writing and printing paper, cup stock paper, 1-sided coated paper, 2-sided coated paper, super calendered paper, clay coated kraft paper.
In the beginning, we used to only make recycled grade writing and printing paper. Then, in 2011, we converted to multilayered kraft papers with 22-40 bf and after 2018, we started producing all these value-added products.
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PM: How do your products stand out from your competitors?
AJ: All our products are majorly recycled or blend of recycled pulp that are much more sustainable. We always try to create value to our customers by tuning products according to their needs. If we talk about our kraft papers, it is majorly used in the corrugation industry, and it is absolutely odour free, having high RCT values which help in achieving better compression for the boxes. In case of writing and printing paper, our paper is surface-sized and has high brightness and smoothness, which is best for the publishing segment. For cup stock, we have come up with a product, having a blend of virgin and recycled fibers, that gives great value to our converters, in terms of flexibility and cost of paper.
PM: In what sectors do your products find significant use and where do you see stronger demands? What are the new sectors you are eyeing upon?
AJ: We cater to the majority of bulk industries such as the corrugation industry, printing and publishing sector, carry bags both bleached and unbleached, and cup making industry.
Right now, the Indian paper industry is facing a lot of import challenges. But sitting in the central part of India, we are doing good in every segment. With our new machine coming next year, we are targeting the label industry and flexible packaging sector using paper in food laminates. We are also targeting the cooler industry with our new development of wet strength absorbent paper.
We are coming up with a new specialty packaging grade paper line of 100,000 tons per annum, which will increase our overall capacity to 300,000 tons per annum. The new paper line will commence operations in May 2025.
PM: How do you build and sustain relationships with your customers?
AJ: Our main focus is on adding value to our customers by providing them cost efficient products. So, this makes both of us happy, and thus we share a long-term relationship with our customers. We want to keep ourselves away from crowds and always focus on products which are not commonly made by mills or have technological challenges in making.
PM: How is sustainability intertwined with your operations? What initiatives are undertaken for better waste and water management?
AJ: Silverton Pulp and Papers is working hard towards sustainability. We have installed waste-to-energy boilers which use the household garbage as fuel. Apart from that, we use bagasse, which is residue of sugarcane after crushing paddy, husk, and paddy straw, as fuel. We are working towards cleaner tomorrow and for this, we have also installed anaerobic digester which makes 4-5 tons of gas daily. And on top of that, we are also recycling our waste paper. With all these activities, our products are most sustainable and FSC certified. Additionally, we have state-of-the-art effluent treatment plants, and our water consumption is also very low.
For the current fiscal year, the company projects a production of approximately 185,000 tons with an estimated turnover of INR 1,000 crores.
PM: Given the scarcity of raw material in the Indian market, how do you intend to save yourself from raw material volatility?
AJ: We use a blend of imported and Indian waste paper and keep our stock level to the tune up to 2 months of production of paper approximately, to handle both scarcity and volatility of prices, and that’s the way we keep ourselves covered.
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PM: What are your production and sales revenue expectations for this year?
AJ: We have an average production of 15,000 to 16,000 tons per month. So, we expect to close around 1,85,000 tons this year with an approximate turnover of INR 1000 crores.
PM: According to your observations, what is the current market scenario and how much the market will evolve in the next 5 years?
AJ: Markets are quite competitive right now, facing a lot of competition with imports but the overall demands are growing, and we hope to have a good future ahead. There are market disruptions due to geo-political issues and as soon as they end, I expect the markets to touch new highs.
