The Sirpur Paper Mills, purchased by the JK Paper Limited last year, started a trial run of paper production by switching on the machine number 7 on Thursday. The mill has restarted after suspending paper production in September 2014 and is seen as a hope for the families of workers.
A puja was performed before the machine was switched on in the presence of Sirpur MLA Koneru Konappa, DSP Kagaznagar P. Sambaiah, JK Paper Limited director P.K. Suri and vice president Mayank Kumar Jindal. The trial run will see 70 tonnes of paper being produced per day until the next few days.
As maintenance works are still going on, pulp used in production of paper will be brought in from the JK Paper Mill at Rayagada in Orissa at present. Production at full capacity is likely to start by April.
SPM general manager (Works) Alok Srivastav told The Hindu that the plant has eight machines with a capacity to produce 1.3 lakh tonnes of paper per annum. He said this capacity will be reached in April once all maintenance work is over.