Sirpur Paper Mills located at Kaghaznagar in Adilabad district of Telangana. The National Company Law Tribunal on Thursday approved the proposal put forth by JK Paper to take over the bankrupt Sirpur Paper Mills. The Sirpur Paper Mills is an integrated paper and pulp mill which commenced operations in 1938 under the Nizam’s rule. The company is under the corporate insolvency resolution process as per the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
The approval came from NCLT’s Hyderabad bench in 50 days since the insolvency proceedings for Sirpur Paper Mills began. On 29 May 2018, JK Papers had submitted a resolution plan of nearly Rs. 600 crores for Sirpur Papers before the NCLT. It had approached the NCLT after Sirpur’s financial creditors approved the plan on 16 May 2018 by a majority 80.66% voting share.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised JK Paper on all aspects of the insolvency resolution process. He also advised them on the drafting of the resolution plan, competition law and representation before the NCLT. JK Papers is one of the largest producers of various kinds of papers and packaging boards. The International Finance Corporation, an investment arm of the World Bank had said that it would invest up to US$ 50 million (Rs 335 crores) in JK Papers last year.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
– Naresh Khanna
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