The paper trail: A report from New Delhi’s Paperex 2025

With India now one of the fastest-growing paper markets—hosting more than 750 paper mills—the prevailing mood was a mix of quiet anxiety and strategic resolve. As an industry expert shared with us, "The industry faces the headwinds of cost volatility, aggressive, cheaper imports from China, and the unceremonious flattening of the traditional writing and printing market." The consensus, according to the analysts at Paperex, is that the "winning formula" for the next decade will be a precise measure of Packaging (for volume) and Specialty (for value).

Three trends we picked up at PrintWeek are a rapid surge in demand for materials like food grade and cupstock and barrier coated papers and biodegradable grades.

The most compelling narrative unfolding on the exhibition floor, however, was one of radical environmental adaptation. The Trident Group, in a remarkable act of agricultural alchemy, showcased a pioneering wheat-straw-based paper, a solution that converts agro-waste into a valuable, renewable resource, allowing for zero tree cutting. This philosophy was paired with a demonstration of digital transformation, highlighting automation efforts to enhance precision and minimise waste.

Elsewhere, the folks at Pakka were focused on a paper product with a more intimate purpose: Ensuring its material is food-safe, migration-tested, and built for brands that refuse to compromise on trust or safety. Even the humble kraft paper segment is cleaning up its act, with Eminent Paper Industries detailing its strategies for reducing waste through energy recovery and closed-loop water systems.

The exhibition also featured a visible shift toward the algorithmic mill. Siemens Energy discussed how its control panels are now helping paper mills turn process insight into "real, sustainable performance." Valmet offered a web-based Asset Manager designed to manage the maintenance and lifecycle of over 600 rolls on a single board machine—a feat of digital organisation. The perhaps most futuristic moment belonged to AI Guru, which launched "MillMind" with JMC, a new product that combines real-time mill data with conversational AI to provide mill floor answers in seconds.

Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers (TNPL) also embraced the new, launching its "Copy Crown Premium Copier Paper" with an AI-generated advertisement, a development that, one supposes, is perfectly crisp and reliable.

Amid the talk of tonnage and transition, there were moments of sincere reflection. Mukul Pandey, a general manager at SAEL, used his time to walk the exhibition, recalling his professional past and, more poignantly, the legacy of his late father who had a close association with industry giants like BILT and JK Paper. His heartwarming journey was a reminder that even in an industry fixated on the next quarter, the true highlight, as he put it, "Was the people," the reconnecting with former colleagues and friends. This sentiment was echoed in the launch of Anand Khemka's book, “Where Is Your Profit?”, a veteran’s offering launched at the stalls of industry pillars.

The message from New Delhi is clear: the paper industry is rapidly adapting to survive, trading in the old for the new, as paper leaves the desk for the dinner plate, all while attempting to reconcile its ancient material with a very modern, and very digital, world.