New Delhi

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) on Tuesday expressed concern over the quality and standards of domestically produced newsprint, stating that imports will remain essential until local manufacturing meets global benchmarks.

In a statement, INS president Vivek Gupta said the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in its 2024–25 report, indicated that the domestic newsprint industry claims to have 123 mills with an installed capacity of around 2.2 million tonnes per annum.

However, the INS said actual production figures show that capacity utilisation remains significantly below these claims, raising doubts about the adequacy of domestic supply.

Apart from quantity, the organisation said quality remains a key concern for the print media industry.

According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the newsprint specification issued in December 2022 classifies newsprint into Grade 1 and Grade 2 categories based on physical, optical, mechanical and surface parameters.

While both grades comply with BIS standards, the INS said they are not operationally equivalent, noting that Grade 2 newsprint is significantly inferior to Grade 1 in terms of technical specifications.

The society also referred to recent remarks by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who said India’s standards should not be lower than global benchmarks and should be upgraded if they fall short.

The INS said such statements reinforce the concerns of the print media industry that the quality of domestic newsprint currently does not meet the operational requirements of most Indian publishers.

READ MORE: Sofia Firdaus: an accidental politician who is here to stay

“The issue confronting Indian publishers is not merely capacity, but the availability of globally acceptable, press-compatible quality newsprint,” the INS said, adding that imports would remain necessary until domestic manufacturing capabilities are upgraded to consistently meet international standards.