ITC completes ₹3,500 crore Century Pulp acquisition, lifts paper capacity over 50%
ITC has completed its acquisition of Century Pulp and Paper from Aditya Birla Real Estate, taking its paperboards and paper capacity to about 1.5 million metric tonnes. The deal expands its northern India footprint, raw-material access and sustainable-packaging capabilities.
What happened
ITC completed its ₹3,500 crore acquisition of Century Pulp and Paper from Aditya Birla Real Estate, raising paperboards and paper capacity by over 50% to about
Key facts
- ₹3,500 crore
- over 50%
- approximately 1.5 million metric tonnes
- March 31, 2025
- 1979
- March 2002
- 2004
Why this matters
The deal demonstrates ITC’s strategy of using targeted inorganic expansion to secure fibre access, deepen regional manufacturing reach and build scale in sustainable packaging.
What to watch
- Management disclosure of acquisition integration costs, synergies, utilization rates and return-on-capital targets.
- Changes in domestic paperboard pricing, imported paper inflows and Chinese/Asian export supply.
- Wood, pulp, coal, power and freight cost trends, especially in northern India.
- Announcements of new forestry acreage, captive pulp initiatives or wood-sourcing partnerships.
- Customer wins in sustainable packaging and growth in premium/specialty paperboard volumes.
- Any incremental capex, mill upgrades, environmental approvals or capacity additions following the acquisition.
- Integrate Century Pulp's procurement, sales, forestry and logistics networks into ITC's paperboards division.
- Prioritize debottlenecking and modernization capex to lift utilization, energy efficiency and specialty-board output.
- Expand farm forestry and long-term wood-sourcing agreements in northern India to protect fibre availability and costs.
- Pursue large recyclable-packaging contracts with FMCG, quick-service restaurant, e-commerce and pharma customers.
- Rationalize overlapping product lines and redirect capacity toward premium paperboards, liquid packaging and barrier-coated fibre solutions.