ITC Limited completed the process of acquisition of the paperboard manufacturing facility of BILT Industrial Packaging Co. Ltd., near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The facility, christened Unit KOVAI, will operate as part of ITC’s Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division.

“This KOVAI Unit will allow ITC to improve its customer service with reduced lead times and a wider product range”, said Mr Pradeep Dhobale, Chief Executive of ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division. The acquisition also enables ITC to take a major step forward towards achieving its vision of emerging as a leading manufacturer of quality paperboards in the entire Afro-Asian region. The total manufacturing capacity of ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division will rise to 360,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2004, with the commissioning of another paperboard machine in the Bhadrachalam Unit. ITC will then manufacture a wider variety of paperboards, for both the packaging and graphic segments.