Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has requested his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu to help revive the paper unit of Ballarpur Industries Limited by supplying raw material from the latter State.
In a latter addressed to Naidu, and handed over to him on Wednesday by Kadiyam Srihari, Deputy Chief Minister, and Azmeera Chandulal, Minister for Tribal Welfare, the Chief Minister Rao requested supply of Eucalyptus wood at subsidised price to the Ballapur Industries Limited (BILT) unit at Kamalapur in Warangal district.
Rao wanted AP to secure 4 lakh MTs of Eucalyptus wood per annum at a subsidised price and an assured basis for a period of five years as this would go a long way in restarting and continuing the industry as this would help restore livelihoods of those adversely affected due to closure of the paper unit.
The Telangana Government has extended concessions to the paper unit to help its revival.
The BILT unit, which was formerly known as AP Rayons was established more than four decades ago. The factory is engaged in manufacture of Viscose grade Rayon with wood as raw material. The unit was sourcing wood during the initial period from the forest department and thereafter the Eucalyptus and bamboo being grown by the farmers.
It used to purchase wood from undivided AP Forest Development Corporation by participating in auction to buy 5 lakh MT of wood. However, in the recent past it had been facing difficulty in securing raw material required to run the unit and forced to close.
The unit is closed for more than six months and more than 1,000 people having direct employment and about 5,000 people indirectly dependant on the unit for livelihood have been adversely impacted.
In order to revive the unit and support the people dependant on the unit, the Telangana government has extended the necessary support but is faced with raw material shortage. With substantial quantity of wood available in AP, the TS Government has now requested AP to support its revival plan.