Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) is a subsidiary of Avantha Group, and was once India's largest manufacturer of writing and printing paper. The current chairman of the company is

Gautam Thapar Gautam Thapar (born 7 December 1960) is an Indian businessman who is the chairman of Avantha Group and is part of the Thapar family. Early life Gautam Thapar belongs to the third generation of the business family founded by his grandfathe ...

, who succeeded his late uncle L.M. Thapar. BILT's subsidiaries include Sabah Forest Industries (SFI), Malaysia's largest pulp and paper company, and BILT Tree Tech Limited (BTTL), which runs BILT's farm forestry programme in several states in India. BILT has six manufacturing units across India, which give the company geographic coverage over most of the domestic market. BILT has a dominant share of the high-end

coated paper Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated by a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink absor ...

segment in India. The company accounts for over 50% of the coated

wood-free paper Wood-free paper is paper created exclusively from chemical pulp rather than mechanical pulp. Chemical pulp is normally made from pulpwood, but is not considered wood as most of the lignin is removed and separated from the cellulose fibers during p ...

market, an impressive 85% of the bond paper market and nearly 45% of the hi-bright Maplitho market, besides being India's largest exporter of coated paper. BILT’s acquisition of SFI in 2007 was the first overseas acquisition by an Indian paper company. This acquisition transformed BILT into a major regional player, and elevated the company's ranking among the global top 100. It also entered into a partnership with Red Roses Publications, Norway in 2013, which is owned and managed by a multi-billionaire.

History

Lala

Karam Chand Thapar Karam Chand Thapar (1900–1962) was the founder of the Thapar Group of companies. He was originally from Punjab. He started his career in 1920 as a coal trader in Calcutta, and built up the family fortune through Karam Chand Thapar and Bros. ...

established company in 1945 as Ballarpur Paper and Straw Board Mills Limited, with 'Three Aces' (paper) and 'Wisdom' (stationery) being its first two brands. In 1969, Shree Gopal Paper Mills Limited in

Yamunanagar Yamunanagar (), is a city and a municipal corporation in Yamunanagar district in the Indian state of Haryana. This town is known for the cluster of plywood units and paper industries. It provides timber to larger industries. The older tow ...

was merged with the company. In 1975, the organisation was renamed Ballarpur Industries Limited. In the 1990s the company was under siege from Southeast Asian companies, who set up greenfield projects in India. But in 2001, Ballarpur Industries turned around and was able to buy out its Indonesian competitor's

Sinar Mas Group Sinar Mas is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia. It was formed in 1938. It has numerous subsidiaries including Asia Pulp & Paper and palm oil producer PT SMART. The company also acquired Berau Coal Energy from Asia Resource Minerals P ...

Indian division and entered into a partnership with Red Roses Publications, Norway. The name BILT emerged after a corporate rebranding exercise in 2002.

Locations

BILT is headquartered in Gurgaon in Haryana. It has three central nurseries, each located in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

. The company has the following manufacturing units: #Unit : Ashti,

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council in Gadchiroli district in the state of Maharashtra, central India. It is located on eastern side of Maharashtra, and is the administrative headquarters of the district. Gadchi ...

# Unit : Ballarpur,

Chandrapur District Chandrapur district (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃən̪d̪ɾəpuːɾ (earlier known as ''Chanda district'') is a district in the Nagpur Division in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Chandrapur was the largest district in India until the Gadchir ...

#Unit : Bhigwan,

Pune District Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: uɳeː is the most populous district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district's population was 9,429,408 in the 2011 census, making it the fourth most populous district amongst India's 640 district ...

#Unit : Kamalapuram,

Warangal District Warangal district, formerly Warangal Rural district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tent ...

#Unit : Sewa,

Jeypore Jeypore is one of the largest towns and a place of historical significance in Koraput district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was established by Vir Vikram Dev in the mid 17th century. The kingdom was defeated by the East India Company i ...

# Unit : Shree Gopal,

Yamuna Nagar District Yamunanagar district is one of the 22 districts of the Indian state of Haryana. The district came into existence on 1November 1989 and occupies an area of . Yamunanagar town is the district headquarters. Yamunanagar's average rainfall in Monso ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

The company also has one of its office in

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Financials and Bankruptcy Process

The company has been reporting losses for more than numerous financial years post which, the paper producer was taken to the bankruptcy court by its lenders on January, 2020. BILT's major lenders includ
SBI

ICICI Bank ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian Private bank. It is headquartered at Mumbai. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services for corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and specialized subsidiar ...

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It sells financial services to large and mid-size companies, SMEs and retail businesses. As ...

IDBI Bank The IDBI Bank Limited (IDBI Bank or IDBI) is a development finance institution under the ownership of Life Insurance Corporation of India and Government of India. It was established in 1964 as Industrial Development Bank of India, a developmen ...

and Finquest Financial Solutions. Due to poor internal performance of the company, its stock has fallen more than 95% in a span of three years (as of March, 2020). The equity shares of BILT are listed on

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, Ma ...

and

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange. It is located on Dalal Street in Mumbai. Established in 1875 by cotton merchant Premchand Roychand, a Jain businessman, it is the oldest stock exchange i ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

BILT

Paper Division
Pulp and paper companies of India Manufacturing companies based in Gurgaon Manufacturing companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in India Forestry in Malaysia Avantha Group Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange