With the restoration of its machinery progressing as scheduled, the Kerala Paper Products Limited (KPPL), a State-owned public sector unit in Velloor, is all set to begin production of newsprint by April.
Visiting the industrial unit here on Tuesday, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve said the restoration works worth ₹34.30 crore were progressing in a satisfactory manner and more workers would be hired for the second phase of operations worth ₹44.94 crore. “The recruitment will be on a contract basis depending on their skill set and experience,” he said.
During the visit, the Minister also inspected the repair works at the paper machine plant, pulp mill, de-Iinking plant, weight paper godown, utility power plant, and pump house. KPPL special officer Prasad Radhakrishnan accompanied the Minister.
The previously Central PSU shut down its production plant nearly three years ago while the production unit had not undergone maintenance and repair works for at least six years. In this backdrop, the authorities have set a vigorous work schedule for restoration of the machinery, the first of phase of which is slated to be completed by March.
“Performance assessments are being conducted every two weeks at the government level and assistance is extended accordingly. All the 152 contract employees who are part of the initial operations are performing,” added the Minister.
Constituted as part of the takeover process of the defunct Hindustan Newsprint Limited (HNL), the KPPL’s renovation is slated to achieve full-scale operation in four phases over a period of 46 months. While the production will begin with newsprints, it will be diversified into premium paper products including tissue paper in the subsequent phases.
Authorities expect the unit to begin churning in profits from the 17th month onwards and aim to achieve a production volume of five lakh metric tonnes of paper per annum with a turnover of ₹2,700 crore.
