I have never understood why people used to think for a long time that Tamil Nadu was conservative and averse to growth. I have said this many times because for some reason, the state never drew attention to itself, or it’s achievements. They may not be glamorous but the state’s businessmen set up new industries and found cost effective solutions to many things. For instance the newsprint industry started using the less expensive bagasse for paper manufacturing for the first time in the world. It was the brainchild of S Visvanathan who had set up Seshasayee Paper and Boards (SPB) to use bagasse.
Viswanathan was an early pioneer who deserved much more appreciation than he got in those publicity averse days. Bagasse is the dry, pulpy, fibrous residue that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It serves as a viable, eco-friendly non-wood alternative for manufacturing newsprint and printing paper, reducing reliance on softwood timber which was a far more expensive raw material.
Sugarcane waste is generated in massive quantities by sugar mills, making it a readily available local resource for paper manufacturing. The Tamil Nadu government showed great interest in the project initially, but later dragged its feet. There were many years of delay mainly due to rupee devaluation which happened without any prior warning that made the project prohibitively expensive. There were many sceptics who dismissed this project off as unviable as bagasse was not so easily available.
Not giving up, Visvanathan revived the project in the 1970s. Fortunately, in 1979, the government decided to give 100 percent excise relief for paper manufactured with at least 75 percent bagasse content. TNPL started working in real earnest. It chose the technology from US-based Beloit research centre. Printability with this technology was established when The Hindu newspaper was able to successfully use the paper made with bagasse. In spite of all these experiments which were moving in the right direction, it still was not cost effective. The project may not have taken off without the World Bank stepping in.
In 1977 a World Bank representative who was studying this technology visited SPB’s plant in Erode and was very impressed with the feasibility studies that the company had done for bagasse based newsprint. He recommended it as an ideal candidate for funding. The World Bank then approached the company and offered it a 100 million dollar loan. The IDBI too stepped in. The Tamil Nadu government also was willing to put in part of the funding.
While the funding problem was getting resolved, the project had to find bagasse. Fortunately, it was possible to locate five sugar mills within a radius of 100 kilometres. These mills were persuaded to part with bagasse in exchange for the company agreeing to maintain their coal fired boilers.
Finding various innovative ways to overcome hurdles, TNPL started supplying newsprint on a regular basis to users and has not looked back since. Today it is the largest bagasse based paper manufacturer in the world.