A decade ago, Chiripal Poly Films started off as a single-location, single-product company. Today, the company has its plants in multiple locations producing multiple products, clocking a sale of Rs 2800 crore. Just recently the company celebrated its 10th anniversary. Currently, the company has an annual capacity to manufacture 126,000 MT BOPP, 38,000 MT BOPET, and 216,000 MT PET resin in addition to value-added capabilities of metalizing and coating flexible films. In May this year, the company will inaugurate its new BOPET line at its newly built plant in Hyderabad. Sumant Singhal, CEO at Chiripal Poly Films, discusses with The Packman the journey so far, new investments and future plans of the company. Here is an excerpt from the interview.
Mahan Hazarika: Chiripal Poly Films has ordered a highly automated BOPET line for the newly built factory in Hyderabad. What made you take the decision to invest in a new line/plant?
Sumant Singhal: The decision for a new plant in Hyderabad was an outcome of our desire to be closer to markets and customers. The demand for packaging films has been growing at a fast pace in Southern India over the last few years and there were no packaging film plants situated in this part of the country. This prompted us to set up a plant in Hyderabad. The other driver to this decision was to become multi-locational to mitigate business continuity risks of operating from a single site.
As far as the new BOPET line is concerned, it is in line with our decision to double our capacity (both BOPP and BOPET) by 2024. After the BOPET line, which will start later this year, we have another BOPP and BOPET line planned for commissioning in 2024.
Mahan Hazarika: What are the special features of the new line?
Sumant Singhal: Our new line will give us the capability to manufacture several new BOPET grades like White, Twist, Matte, Heat Sealable, and Ultra Clear.
Mahan Hazarika: Have you also made any other investments in capacity building/value addition? Please share.
Sumant Singhal: Apart from the BOPP and BOPET lines planned till 2024, which I have already mentioned above, we have a CPP line planned for commissioning later this year. We have just started up a metallizer at Hyderabad and have two more metallizers lined up in the next 12-24 months. We have very recently finalized a second coating line which will get commissioned in 2023. We will also be announcing an aluminum foil project shortly.
Mahan Hazarika: Chiripal Poly Films has grown into a significant player in the flexible packaging domain in just a decade. How did you make it possible?
Sumant Singhal: We are a part of a large textile group and when the group ventured into packaging films in 2012, we were clear that we wanted to be a major player in the industry. In keeping with this vision, we set ourselves 5-year and 10-year goals which we have achieved. So with a clear vision of where we wanted to be in 10 years, we invested in both assets and people.
With the right hardware and software in place, we focused on offering our customers high-quality products, an expanded product portfolio and service that was prompt and responsive. We have over the years met and exceeded the expectations of our customers resulting in a very loyal customer base which is a big strength in a highly competitive industry like ours. We also focused on global markets and export to more than 50 countries today. We have also steadily diversified our product offerings which include offline coated films and PET resin.
All these actions resulted in our steady growth over the last ten years has culminated in our strong positioning in the industry today.
Mahan Hazarika: How exciting is the Indian flexible market right now? What are the growth pangs that may need to be addressed?
Sumant Singhal: The Indian flexible market is extremely exciting and will surely remain this way for several years to come. The current per capita consumption of plastic packaging is quite low by global standards and provides a huge opportunity to keep growing at a double-digit rate year on year. The growing middle class, increasing penetration of organized retail, and demand for hygienically packed food in a post-covid world is only going to accelerate the demand.
Growth pangs could manifest in the area of compliance with sustainability regulations which are still evolving.
Mahan Hazarika: Looking ahead, how do you think the sustainability debate will evolve in the coming years?
Sumant Singhal: I see the campaign against plastics, being the villain of the sustainability narrative, losing steam. The misconceptions about plastics need to be addressed and people need to see the holistic picture. Plastic has a much lower carbon footprint compared to most other forms of packaging like aluminum or glass, due to its lightweight and relatively lower energy consumption in the manufacturing process. What about the food wastage that will happen in a world without plastics? Can paper packaging prolong the shelf-life of food and act as a barrier like plastic does? Does using paper not mean cutting down more trees? So there are pros and cons in all forms of packaging.
Once we have a clear perspective of why we can’t do without plastics, we need to channel our energies towards improvising our plastic packaging to be easily recyclable and build a robust infrastructure for collecting and recycling post-consumer plastic waste. Of course, there will be a cost to this effort which both Industry and the government will have to bear.
In my view, this realization has dawned and the MoEF’s (Ministry of Environment and Forests) intent of introducing EPR (extended producer responsibility) is a step in this direction. We are also seeing most FMCG companies redesigning their packaging to more recyclable structures. Incidentally, we have a full range of product offering which supports recyclable and sustainable packaging and are actively working towards making packaging more sustainable.
Mahan Hazarika: What according to you are the challenges in the overall ecosystem in the implementation of sustainable practices?
Sumant Singhal: My reply to this question draws from my answer to the previous question and is in the context of plastic packaging. The first challenge is awareness, particularly in developing nations like India. People need to understand that we have a problem, the impact of which can be scaled down but may not be totally eradicated. Plastic waste gets a lot of attention when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. The NGO’s and pressure groups who drive these campaigns need to spend more energy towards educating the masses to make small changes in their life that support sustainability, which could be as simple as segregating their household waste so that it can be easily recycled.
The other challenge is creating an infrastructure for the collection and recycling of post-consumer waste. This involves developing a commercially viable revenue model for ragpickers, who are key to scavenging and waste collection in a country like India. Also, easy availability of affordable technology for recycling is needed. All this has a huge cost and needs a major effort, which can only happen when the government, industry and NGOs work in a collaborative and unidirectional manner. I don’t think that is happening today.
Mahan Hazarika: What will remain a primary business challenge for you in 2022?
Sumant Singhal: The challenges I envisage in 2022, not only for us but for the entire industry are in the area of feedstock supplies and global logistics. There is going to be tightness in the feed-stock supply situation this year based on the global supply-demand dynamics and securing the feedstock supply chain is a key focus area for us. The other challenge we are experiencing is in the area of global logistics. The shortage of vessels and containers and the huge escalation in ocean freight costs is hampering both imports and exports. However, these challenges are temporary in nature and should get addressed within 2022.
Very informative interview. Thanks!