Paper is essential for national security. It is of substantial importance for the economic prosperity of the country. A variety of paper and paper products are produced in India. Economic growth is accompanied by the increasing need for paper and paper products. It is more so in the case of a developing economy like India, which has been striving for rapid industrialization, blended with the objectives of liberalization and globalization. Regarding paper and paperboard, two facts appear to be special for Indian economy. Firstly, per capita paper consumption in India has been one of the lowest in the world. Secondly, domestic production is not sufficient to meet the growing consumption needs of the economy. Though paper industry continues to progress under successive Five Year Plans, imports of paper and paperboard continue to be a regular feature of the Indian economy, as India is not self- sufficient in respect of paper and paperboard, particularly in speciality papers. The present book analyses the magnitude and determinants of paper and paper products import of India and ways and means to make the industry internationally competitive.
Dr. T. Susilendra Sarma, born on 15th August, 1947, received her Master’s Degree, M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics from Andhra University, Waltair. She is, at present, Head of the Department of Economics at Smt. Kandukuri Rajya Lakshmi College, Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh). She has many years of experience in teaching a wide variety of topics related to Indian Economics, Macro Economics, Public Finance, Agricultural Economics, Population Studies and Environment.
Dr. Sarma is keenly interested in studying the problems of Women, Illiteracy, Population, Poverty and Environment. She participated in the ‘Orientation Course in Population Education’, organised by Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. She attended the Training programme for Legal Literacy for Women, organised by the National Commission for Women, at Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswavidyalayam. She is an active and regular participant in various U.G.C. Seminars, Workshops and Conferences. She organised U.G.C.-sponsored seminar on ‘Environment and Sustainable Development, Indian and Global Scenario’, in 1997. At present, Dr. Sarma is Programme Advisor for Nature Club ‘Green Earth — SKRC’, which is affiliated to ‘Society for Preservation of Environment and Quality of Life’ (SPEQL) and also WWF — India.
