Hyderabad, Aug.14 (Hydnow): The 14th PaperTech 2020 was inaugurated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in partnership with the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) on a virtual platform on Thursday. The two-day virtual conference has many stakeholders and pioneers of the paper sector converging on a digital platform to deliberate on new challenges and opportunities, with participation of more than 80 companies and 150 industry delegates.
The 14th PaperTech summit is part of a series of industry conferences being held online by CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in August, culminating in the Energy Efficiency Summit on August 25 & 28 .
The theme of the 14th PaperTech 2020 is “Make Indian Pulp & Paper Industry World Class”, and the event is supported by a raft of industry associations, including the Indian Pulp & Paper Technical Association (IPPTA), Gujarat Paper Mills Association, Indian Agro & Recycled Paper Mills Association (IARPMA), Indian Newsprint Manufacturers Association (INMA), and the Cogeneration Association of India (COGEN India).
Sanjay Singh, Chairman, PaperTech 2020 & President, IPPTA & Divisional Chief Executive, ITC Limited PSPD, in his theme address, underlined that the paper industry plays a vital role in the overall industrial growth of the country and also provides a necessary medium to propel our knowledge-based economy forward in the new millennium. “Pursuing ‘Green’ has become the new driver for companies on the quest for sustainable growth, competitiveness and global excellence. Whatever the challenges of the industry today, the best path to take for a sustainable and strong future is the Green one,” he said. Mr Sanjay Singh also impressed upon the audience that CII’s GreenCo rating system is first-of-its-kind in the world to assess companies on their environmental performance.
A S Mehta, President, IPMA, in his special address highlighted that this is right time for the paper sector to chart a path for sustainable growth and global competitiveness. “It is in a challenging time such as the present one that our mettle is tested. The PaperTech summit helps industry technocrats converge and sharing their learnings, and this benefits the industry greatly. However, we still need to move swiftly in many spheres of our business to improve our global competitiveness. We must get the small industries involved in the path to sustainability, and also take up a moral responsibility to help all the farmers involved with our sector,” he said.
PS Patwari, President, INMA and Executive Director & CEO, Emami Paper Mills Ltd, in his special address, spoke about how exports from the paper industry in India are on the rise for the last few years. “These are testing times, and hence we must test out every opportunity to innovate and grow responsibly and sustainably,” he remarked.
Other key dignitaries who addressed the virtual gathering include Sunil Agarwal, President, Gujarat Paper Mills Association, and Pramod Agarwal, President, IARPMA & Chief Managing Director, Rama Paper Mills Ltd.
The event was also marked by the launch of a CII publication called ‘Formula Book for Pulp & Paper Sector’. The book contains formulas related to energy efficiency and Environment Management relevant for pulp and Paper sector. The book was prepared with the objective of helping the pulp and paper industry perform a detailed analysis for improving the competitiveness of Pulp and Paper mills. (Hydnow)