Work on Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers’ ₹ 1,500-crore packaging board factory will start next month with the Ministry of Environment and Forests giving it the go-ahead.

According to an official press release, TNPL has also achieved financial closure for the project to set up a multi-layer, double-coated board manufacturing factory with a capacity of two-lakh-tonnes-a-year in Tiruchi district.

It has tied up loans for ₹ 1,200 crore from six banks: State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Union Bank of India and State Bank of Travancore.

Equipment manufacturer Voith, Germany, will supply the board machine, which will be the largest of its kind in the country, with advanced features such as four-layer board making.  TNPL has also placed orders to get related equipment, including two power boilers of 90 tonnes and a 30 MW turbo generator.

Shapoorji Pallonji and Co will handle the civil work to start in March. TNPL plans to complete the project by December 2015 and start trial production during by March 2016. 

The greenfield factory will take TNPL’s total production capacity to six-lakh tonnes, including four-lakh tonnes of printing and writing paper, at its first unit in neighbouring Karur district.