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Ajita Shashidhar

ITC's decision to make paper without chlorine is based on Rio Convention declaration, which asked Indian manufacturers to eliminate the use of chlorine and use nascent oxygen instead.

Chennai , July 24

ITC Greeting Cards Business, which recently launched its premium range of notebooks under the Expressions Paperkraft brand and a range of notebooks targeted at school children called Classmates, plans to peg these brands as using eco-friendly paper.

Manufactured by ITC's paper division, the paper is bleached without elementary chlorine. The company has reportedly invested Rs 227 crore in pulp mill modernisation and upgradation project at its Bhadrachalam factory to convert to this elementary chlorine free (ECF) technology, and henceforth, all the paper manufactured by it would be elemental chlorine-free.

Mr Chand Das, Chief Executive, Greeting Cards Business, ITC, said that the company would not charge a premium for this and the price of its notebooks would be comparable to the ones in the market.

The eco-friendly paper used in these notebooks was supposed to reduce pollution, claimed Mr Das. ITC's decision to manufacture paper without elemental chlorine is based on a declaration at the Rio Convention, which asked Indian paper manufacturers to eliminate the use of chlorine and instead use nascent oxygen. Chlorine reportedly generates harmful dioxins. The chlorine-free paper is expected to be safe for children to use, and also increases the life of the paper.

Speaking on the notebooks market in India, Mr Das said that it was highly fragmented and unorganised with hardly any branded players. "The consumers are also not really brand conscious, and the market is dominated by local players. Therefore, it will be a challenge for us to create a need for a branded notebook."

The Rs 500-crore stationery market, of which notebooks form a major part, was flooded with consumer unfriendly practices, he said. "Most manufacturers cheat the customers on the number of pages, the weight of the paper and so on.

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