Established as Carnatic Paper Mills Ltd in 1920. In 1929 The Andhra Paper Mills Co. Ltd. was incorporated to take over the assets of Carnatic Paper Mills Ltd. A Winding Up Order was passed by Madras High Court in 1947. In 1953, Andhra State took over the control of The Andhra Paper Mills Co. Ltd. On 29th June 1964 The Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Ltd. (APPM) was incorporated whereby Government of Andhra Pradesh (GOAP) agreed to sell and transfer to APPM the concern owned by GOAP and known as Andhra Paper Mills together with all movable and immovable properties.
Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills, which is now an International Paper company, is one of the biggest integrated paper and pulp manufacturing centers in India. The company produces indispensible writing, printing and copier papers for foreign and domestic markets. It employs around 2,500 employees and is headquartered in Hyderabad.
APPM’s production facilities are comprised of two mills in Rajahmundry and Kadiam with a total production capacity of 240,000 TPA. The company is becoming a driving force in sustainability in the paper manufacturing arena through focused social and community programs, including pioneering work in raw material generation through social farm forestry. International Paper owns a majority interest in APPM, and the remaining shares are publicly traded on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges in India (APPAPER).
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In the early 1980s, APPM recognized that the pulp and paper industry would face challenges in the sourcing of fibrous raw materials due to the Forest Conservation Act and the Land Ceiling Act, which restricted the usage of available land for captive plantations. Consequently, APPM embarked on an ambitious plan to generate the raw material by coordinating with farmers to utilize their barren marginal and degraded lands.
This pioneering step marked the commencement of the farm forestry plantation activities, and was a turning point in the history of the company. Started in 1989, the social forestry initiative has spread to Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts of Andhra Pradesh. The program provides a means of survival for the small farmers, and improves the socio-economic status of their communities. In return, APPM has achieved total self-sufficiency in the sourcing of raw material.
To date, around 918 million seedlings of fast-growing Subabul, Casaurina and Eucalyptus have been distributed to cover 1,32,500 hectares of coastal land, and aided more than 44,000 beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are provided planting material at extremely subsidized rates. The scheme has been widely accepted and adopted by the rural people and is now held as the benchmark in plantation activities.
APPM is developing high yielding, genetically superior clones of Casaurina and Eucalyptus to maximize plantation productivity and revenue generation for the farmers. The ‘wastelands’ of yore have become the means to employment and asset creation for the farmers. The perception of paper mills as destroyers of natural resources has been struck down. Instead, they are leading development efforts with the goal of improving forest and ecological systems. The mills follow the principle of planting two trees for each tree felled.
The productivity of degraded lands has improved tremendously since the inception of the social farm forestry program, and soil erosion has been controlled. There has also been an observable improvement in moisture conservation.
Research and Development
Our research and development projects have helped in ensuring higher survival percentage of seedlings, higher productivity per unit area and reduction in the rotation cycle. In order to be environmentally friendly, we have eliminated the traditional practices of poly bag nursery techniques, and other low cost planting techniques have been introduced. APPM have also introduced high yielding, disease resistant Casaurina and Eucalyptus clonal saplings, which ensures additional silvicultural gains for the farmers. The clonal research activities have been extended to the mill catchment areas of Andhra Pradesh in order to meet the growing demand of the beneficiaries.
Our research and development projects have helped in ensuring higher survival percentage of seedlings, higher productivity per unit area and reduction in the rotation cycle. In order to be environmentally friendly, we have eliminated the traditional practices of poly bag nursery techniques, and other low cost planting techniques have been introduced. APPM have also introduced high yielding, disease resistant Casaurina and Eucalyptus clonal saplings, which ensures additional silvicultural gains for the farmers. The clonal research activities have been extended to the mill catchment areas of Andhra Pradesh in order to meet the growing demand of the beneficiaries.
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