West Coast Paper Mills Ltd is fundamentally a paper company - one of India’s oldest and largest integrated producers of writing, printing and packaging paper - that also makes optical fibre cables and has steadily expanded its paper-making footprint through acquisition. It was established in 1955 on the banks of the Kali River in Dandeli, Karnataka, under a government agreement that supplied bamboo at concessional rates, and it has operated from that same 240-acre site ever since. The recurring approach is to own the full chain from raw material to finished product - it calls this “wood to paper” - and to bet early on technology that cuts cost or lifts quality, a pattern visible in its long list of industry firsts and its recent move to make its own optical fibre rather than buy it.
Business segments
Three engines, one core - an integrated paper mill that supplies nearly all the revenue, a cable business that is bringing its key raw material in-house, and a subsidiary paper company that doubles the group’s scale.
1. Paper and paperboard: the “wood to paper” mill that runs the company
A single, self-sufficient factory in Karnataka turns wood into over 300,000 tonnes of paper a year - making its own pulp, its own power, and drawing surplus water from the river it sits beside.
- Integrated from tree to reel - the Dandeli plant runs an integrated pulp mill alongside paper machines with a combined capacity of 3,20,000 metric tonnes per annum, so it converts wood into paper under one roof rather than buying pulp on the open market. In FY25 it ran at 99.6% of that capacity.
- Grows its own raw material security - the company runs a farm-forestry programme that distributed 1.5 crore seedlings to farmers in FY25, and it can also blend up to 50% imported hardwood chips from South Africa and Australia when local wood is tight. All wood is sourced from FSC-certified sustainable vendors or government forests, and the company’s own plantation society has held a “Well Managed Group Plantation” certification since 2011.
- Power and water are captive and surplus - four on-site turbo generators produce 74.80 MW, enough to meet all the mill’s needs with roughly 24 MW left over, and the plant has permission to draw 1,00,000 kilolitres of water a day from the Kali River while needing only about half that. More than half the steam comes from burning black liquor, a wood by-product classified as renewable biomass by the government.
- A technology-first culture that lowers cost and waste - the company was the first in India to switch entirely to hardwood, the first in Asia to install a twin-wire Papriformer machine, and the first Indian mill to go 100% Elemental Chlorine Free in bleaching, back in 2010. It recycles 97% of cooking chemicals, reuses a quarter of its process water, and has cut water consumption per tonne of paper from 91 kilolitres in FY16 to 46 kilolitres in FY25.
- Sold through a sticky dealer network and exported to 15-plus countries - a network of more than 70 dealers across India, three-quarters of whom have been with the company for over 15 years, pushes products ranging from office paper under the “Wesco” brand to custom watermarked security paper for bank cheques. Exports reached 2,449 tonnes in FY25, going to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
2. Optical fibre cables: a small division that is bringing its key input in-house
A cable maker serving telecom networks and export markets has just started manufacturing its own optical fibre - the glass thread inside the cable - so it no longer has to buy it from someone else.
- Two factories making over 100,000 kilometres of cable a year - the division operates plants in Mysuru, Karnataka, and Fab City, Hyderabad, with the Hyderabad unit starting commercial production in February 2024 and designed for quick further expansion. In FY25 it produced 1,05,481 kilometres of cable.
- Backward integration into optical fibre is the structural shift - a new Optical Fiber Draw Tower factory at the same Hyderabad site began commercial production on 30 April 2025, using technology from European equipment providers. The company says this will largely meet the fibre needs of both its cable plants, securing supply and strengthening its competitive position.
- Supplies big connectivity projects and is pushing into exports - the division has supplied major telecom companies and network integrators for projects like TANFINET, which aims to connect all villages in Tamil Nadu, and it has executed orders for ribbon and multitube cables into Europe. It now exports to more than 25 countries.
- Building capability to lay cables as well as make them - it has completed a pilot EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) project for cable laying and expanded its in-house EPC team, moving beyond manufacturing into installation.
3. Andhra Paper Limited: the subsidiary that doubles the group’s paper scale
A 72% stake in a publicly listed paper mill on the Godavari River adds another 255,000 tonnes of paper capacity and a second virgin-pulp operation, creating a combined group capacity of 5,60,000 tonnes.
- The only virgin-pulp paper mill in Andhra Pradesh - Andhra Paper Limited was established in 1964 and makes writing, printing, industrial and copier papers, with an export share that has ranged from 8% to 20% of its earnings. It has 255,550 tonnes per annum of paper capacity and 200,000 tonnes per annum of pulp capacity.
- Acquired for market leadership and cost synergies - WCPM bought its stake in 2019, describing the deal as creating market leadership and strengthening the brand, with cost benefits from running the two companies together.
- Raw material security through its own plantation programme - APL undertakes large and regular plantations to secure wood supply, and its location on the Godavari River gives it reliable water access.
Group structure and partners
The company sits inside a family-controlled group with interests in cables, chemicals and plantations, and has recently added a plywood subsidiary and a defence venture.
- The S.K. Bangur Group also includes Gloster Cables Limited, Jayshree Chemicals Limited, and Kilkotagiri and Thirumbadi Plantations Limited, with the promoter family holding 56.53% of West Coast Paper Mills as of FY24, up from 52.4% in FY12.
- The Chairman & Managing Director is Shri S.K. Bangur and the Joint Managing Director is Shri Virendraa Bangur.
- Beyond Andhra Paper Limited, the company has three wholly owned subsidiaries: West Coast Opticable Limited, Wesco Defence Systems Ltd., and Uniply Décor Ltd. - the last acquired in September 2023 through the insolvency process and engaged in plywood manufacturing.
- The company also holds a 37.33% stake in Speciality Coatings and Laminations Ltd., an associate.
- The Society for Afforestation, Research and Allied (SARA), promoted by WCPM, runs the tree-farming and forestry R&D that underpins the company’s sustainable wood supply and holds “Well Managed Group Plantation” certification.