Century Pulp & Paper is well-established in India's paper industry with an installed capacity of 4.8 Lakh (480,000) metric tonnes per annum.
April 3, 2025 - ITC Limited on March 31 signed a Business Transfer Agreement to acquire the pulp and paper businesses of Aditya Birla Real Estate Limited, Century Pulp & Paper.
Terms of th edeal were not disclosed
Established in 1984, Century Pulp & Paper (CPP) is well-established in India's paper industry with an installed capacity of 4.8 Lakh (480,000) metric tonnes (MT) per annum. The company is a producer of packaging boards such as FBB and SBB, along with a range of virgin tissues, various types of paper such as copier, printing and writing, and specialty papers, and integrated pulp.
According to ITC, CPP is a one-of-a-kind asset with a strong strategic fit with ITC's Paperboards & Specialty Papers Business. The acquisition will immediately add significant scale and economies to existing operations with potential for further capacity expansion, provide locational advantage for efficient customer servicing and proximity to key raw material sources, mitigate operational risks through multi-site operations and enhance resilience across industry cycles through portfolio diversification.
In addition, ITC expects to drive structural improvement in profitability of CPP through several value unlock interventions such as capacity debottlenecking, product quality upgrade, efficiency improvement leveraging TPM/Digital initiatives, supply chain optimization, overhead rationalization, and procurement efficiencies.
"The acquisition will strengthen the market standing of ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business and engender new opportunities in the domestic and international markets," said Mr. B Sumant, Executive Director, ITC. "The acquisition aligns with the company's strategy of driving the next horizon of growth in the Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business by expanding capacity at a new location considering that the existing facilities are already saturated."
ITC noted that India is the fifth-largest producer of paper and paperboards in the world, with an estimated production of around 23 million metric tons per annum and an annual industry turnover of over Rs. 80,000 cr. India's per capita consumption at approximately 16 Kg. per annum (16.2 lbs.) is low as compared to the global average of 57 Kg. (125.6 lbs), reflecting immense headroom for growth. India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world with demand for paper and paperboards growing at 6%-7% p.a., translating to incremental demand of over 1 million MT annually.
End-user industries such as FMCG, Food Service / Quick Service Restaurants, Pharmaceuticals, e-Commerce, Education & Stationery and increasing demand for sustainable packaging solutions are expected to be the key drivers of growth going forward, ITC added.
ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies and a diversified conglomerate with businesses spanning Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Paperboards and Packaging, Agri Business and Information Technology.
SOURCE: ITC Limited