Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT), Largest Manufacturer Of Writing And Printing Paper

Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) is India’s largest manufacturer of writing and printing (W&P) paper. BILT’s subsidiaries include Ballarpur International Graphic Paper Holdings B.V. (BIGPH); BILT Graphic Paper Products Limited (BGPPL); 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. Mr. R.R. Vederah is the Managing Director and Executive Vice Chairman.

In India, the company has six manufacturing units, giving it geographic coverage over most of the domestic market. The company has a dominant share of the high-end coated paper segment in India. It accounts for over 53% of the coated wood-free paper market, an impressive 80% of the bond paper market and nearly 35% of the hi-bright Maplitho market, besides being India's largest exporter of coated and uncoated paper.

Building on its unmatched paper quality, BILT ventured into the paper-based office stationery segment. The company markets its stationery through a well-established network of 350 retail distributors spread over 270 locations. BILT has mega brands such as BILT Royal Executive Bond, BILT Copy Power, BILT Image Copier and BILT Matrix that have now become an integral part of office stationery. BILT Ten on Ten notebooks are targeted at students and are also available with licensed characters such as Barbie, Spiderman, Winnie the Pooh, Hotwheels, Jungle King and Hannah Montana. BILT Student Stationery has won ‘Product of the Year’ award for the last three consecutive years. In 2008, BILT forayed into organised retail through P3 – Paper, Print and Pens – serving both B2C and B2B clients across India.

In 2005, BILT entered into the tissue and hygiene business with two brands: Etiquette and Spruce-up. Since then, the company has acquired Premier Tissues India Limited, the leading player in hygiene tissue products in the domestic retail market.

BILT’s acquisition of SFI, Malaysia, in 2007 was a watershed event – it was the first overseas acquisition by an Indian paper company, it transformed BILT into a major regional player, and elevated BILT’s ranking among the global top 100.