More than three years after the Sirpur Paper Mills (SPM) was shut down, the Telangana government has issued a Government Order (GO) which has rekindled hope in the town of Kaghaznagar, whose economy had collapsed due to the factory’s closure.
In the GO, the state government announced that it was offering tailor-made concessions to JK Paper Limited, which had submitted a proposal to revive the closed mill located in Telangana’s Komaram Bheem Asifabad district.
The GO stated that the concessions, which usually apply for mega projects, were offered taking into consideration the 1,200 direct jobs plus the jobs of contract workers that were at stake in the town, on which over 10,000 families were dependent directly and indirectly.
The decision was taken after a proposal was approved by the State Cabinet that met in Hyderabad on March 14.
The concessions include 100% gross State GST reimbursement for 10 years and 100% exemption on stamp duty, besides raw material for the paper like debarked eucalyptus and subabul to be made available for 10 years at a concessional rate.
The state government said that the coal would also be supplied with a concession, while all consents and licenses to operate the mill would be made available swiftly.
Electricity duty has been exempted for 10 years in addition to reimbursement of power cost at Rs 3 per unit for three years, the GO stated.
The government also said that it would decide on the reimbursement of all pending dues to the workers.
Background
Established by the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, in 1936, SPM is one of the oldest mills in the country and started production in 1942.
In the 1950s, it was purchased by the CK Birla group and later transferred to the Poddars. In the last decade, it went into losses and shut down in September 2014.
According to former employees, the town’s name – Kothapet – was changed to Kaghaznagar after the mill was set up. The economy of the entire area collapsed when the mill downed shutters.
With no source of income, many mill employees had turned to daily wage jobs. Four people have died since the mill closed, including one person who set himself on fire.