India's pulp and paper sector produces approximately 22 MT of paper and paperboard annually, from around 900 mills ranging from large integrated players (ITC, JK Paper, Ballarpur Industries/BILT, TNPL) to small and medium-sized paper mills. The sector uses both wood pulp and agricultural residue (wheat straw, bagasse, bamboo) as raw materials, and many integrated mills operate recovery boilers and biomass boilers for process steam and electricity generation.
The CCUS opportunity in pulp and paper comes primarily from two sources: recovery boilers, which combust the black liquor by-product of chemical pulping and emit large quantities of CO₂ (largely biogenic, from the wood or biomass raw material); and biomass boilers fired with agricultural residue or wood waste. In both cases, the CO₂ is biogenic — and permanent capture and storage generates negative emission credits. Kraft pulp mills with recovery boilers are the highest-priority BECCS target in India's paper sector.
India's annual paper and paperboard production — 900 mills, predominantly biomass-fired
Biogenic fraction of pulp mill CO₂ emissions — potential negative emission credit source
India's largest integrated paper producers — both with recovery boilers suitable for BECCS
BECCS on kraft recovery boiler — demonstrated at Smurfit Kappa Norsk Skog (Norway)
Post-combustion PCC on kraft recovery boiler flue gas is the primary BECCS pathway for India's large integrated paper mills. Recovery boiler flue gas is typically 13–16% CO₂ with high water vapour content — amenable to standard amine capture after pre-treatment. The biogenic CO₂ fraction (from the wood fibre carbon cycle) is the negative emission component; fossil CO₂ from auxiliary fuels must be segregated in carbon accounting.
Biomass boiler BECCS — capturing CO₂ from bagasse, wheat straw, or wood waste boilers used for process heat and electricity — is applicable to a wider range of mills including those that do not use the kraft pulping process. India's sugar mills with bagasse boilers and paper mills co-located with agricultural residue burning are the most accessible BECCS applications.
ITC Limited's paperboards and packaging business at Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh) is India's largest integrated paper and packaging complex — and one of the world's largest single-site kraft pulp and paper operations. The Bhadrachalam mill's recovery boilers and biomass power plant make it India's highest-priority BECCS candidate in the paper sector. ITC has an ambitious sustainability commitment and a sophisticated treasury function capable of managing carbon market transactions — making it an ideal first mover for India's paper sector BECCS programme.
TNPL's Pugalur mill in Tamil Nadu uses 100% bagasse from Tamil Nadu's sugar industry as its primary raw material — meaning virtually all its process CO₂ is biogenic. Combined with a post-combustion capture system and KG offshore or onshore Cauvery basin saline aquifer storage, TNPL Pugalur could become one of the world's highest-purity BECCS projects, generating premium negative emission credits in Japan's bilateral Article 6 carbon market.
NCM's pulp and paper BECCS advisory is structured around two priorities: identifying and qualifying the highest-value BECCS candidate mills (kraft recovery boiler preferred, large biomass boilers second), and designing the carbon accounting framework that maximises negative emission credit quality and therefore price. The biogenic fraction quantification methodology is critical — different carbon registries use different approaches to measuring and verifying the biogenic vs. fossil CO₂ split, and the registry choice determines the achievable credit price.
Storage pathway selection is a key differentiator for paper sector BECCS. Mills in Andhra Pradesh (ITC Bhadrachalam, TNPL Pugalur) have access to KG offshore basin storage; mills in Karnataka have potential access to Deccan Traps basalt mineralisation; mills in Maharashtra have proximity to both Deccan Traps and Mumbai offshore. NCM maps the storage options for each candidate mill and identifies the pathway with the lowest storage cost and highest credit quality.
Whether you are a government body seeking policy advice, an industrial company facing CBAM exposure, or an investor seeking CCUS project opportunities — our team is ready to engage.