“We are a company to plant trees and not cut, but we see this as a necessary investment in the future as a safeguard against raw material and fuel availability,” says Mr. Jagdeep Hira, Business Head, Yash Pakka Ltd.
Yash Pakka Ltd.
Yash Pakka Ltd. provides agri-residue pulp in both bleached and unbleached varieties. The company, ever since its incorporation, has supported farming by using bagasse as the major raw material and biofuel husk as the feed for power generation. It has tied up with sugar mills for fulfilling its raw material demand which constitutes 90-95 percent utilisation. While the company does not depend on wood for pulp, it plants trees as a part of its regular activities. In an interview with Paper Mart, Mr. Jagdeep Hira, Business Head, Yash Pakka Ltd. talks in detail about the trees grown and the future targets.
Paper Mart: Tell us about the trees grown by the mill.
Jagdeep Hira: Yash Pakka uses bagasse as raw material. The mill is into plantations of over 2 million in a year. At this time, we don’t cut any of them for our use. We are one of the companies to plant trees and not cut them, but we see this as a necessary investment in the future as a safeguard against raw material and fuel availability.
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PM: Tell us about the hardwood and softwood trees grown by the mill.
JH: The tree we plant currently is a eucalyptus clone.
PM: Do you think that India’s agroforestry policy is a step in the right direction? How do you think the recent announcement of policies and legislative changes to promote agroforestry and private forestry in Budget 2022 will help?
JH: The recent announcement of policies and legislative changes to promote agroforestry and private forestry in Budget 2022 is indeed a great idea to support an economical cost of production. Less dependency on imported raw materials would certainly lead to self-sustenance and price competitiveness. This would in turn as well have a larger green cover in India, providing a clean environment and source of earning at large.
“The recent announcement of policies and legislative changes to promote agroforestry and private forestry in Budget 2022 is indeed a great idea to support an economical cost of production.”
PM: Have you been able to improve the productivity of degraded lands, control soil erosion, and push moisture conservation through the plantation?
JH: Particularly not, as our dependence on wood as a business is nil, still as a mission we have been aggressively working on pond restorations in the nearby localities.
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PM: What is your company’s future target?
JH: Our goal is to plant 10 million trees a year.
