Annual Reports of companies and their carbon foot prints.

Annual Reports of companies and its Carbon Foot Print:
A Corporate Social Responsibility Issue:
Genesis:
There are about 7,000 listed companies in India, who are governed by the rule of having to publish their annual reports and circulate them to the share holders.
Out of these, the NIFTY and the SENSEX themselves cover a total of 80 companies (Sensex 30 and NIFTY 50) with about 1,50 Million individual share holders. As per the statute, each one of them is supposed to be sent the annual reports of these companies. Of the about 6,920 companies, the average share holders nos. are about 10,000 per company.
This gives a total figure of about 220 Million individual share holders, each one of whom receives a copy of the annual report of their company. It is a fair estimate that almost about more than 70% of the share holders are in three states alone, viz: Gujrat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, majority of whom can not read a balance sheet and understand the nuances of the annual report.
The environmental impact:
Considering an average weight of say 100 gms. of paper per annual report, this gives a whopping figure of about 2,200 MT of annual paper used for this purpose.
The associated details with this figure are;
a- @ an average of 1,100 Kwh of electricity used per MT of paper production, this results in to an annual electricity consumption of about 24,200 Mwh of electricity, which in turn means about 30,000 MT of CO2 emission (@ about 1.3 MT CO2 per MwH) in to the atmosphere, annually, in addition to depriving some more needy users.
b- The timber resources used to make wood pulp are referred to as pulpwood. Wood pulp comes from softwood trees such as spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen and birch.
Land marks: Ecological footprint (hectare)
Fibre requirements of the pulp and paper sector are met by bamboo, hard wood, agrowaste and wastepaper. The amount of land required by a mill to meet its raw material needs equals the ecological burden that the mills’ fibre sourcing has on the environment.
Company Land needed by mills to produce one tonne of paper
BILT-Ballarpur Unit 4.85
The West Coast Paper Mills Ltd 1.3
Indian average 2.17
The average Indian mill's footprint is 2.17 hectares (ha) for every tonne of paper it produces. Taking the total annual production of paper to be around 3.2 million tonnes, the total land requirement of the Indian pulp and paper sector would be 6.4 million ha. India has over 60 million ha under forest land and more available under private wasteland.
It is the combined responsibility of all the stake holders, viz: The investors (whose money is being spent for the purpose, which otherwise could have been reported as net profit of the company). The Government, which can save about 48,000 hectares (@ an average of 2.17 hectare per MT of paper) of forests every year from deforestation (and its resultant effects on environment).
Impact on water resources:
Needless to say, water is becoming scarce day by day. And, paper industry is a major user of water for processing paper. A 1989 study conducted by the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices showed that the pulp and paper mills in India consumed around 805 million cubic metres (cum) of water to produce 2.7 million tonnes of paper — on an average around 300 cum per tonne of paper produced. They also reported that the water demand was not similar in all the mills and drastically varied between 130 cum to 450 cum per tonnes of paper produced, with about 80 per cent of the units consuming less than 325 cum per tonne of paper and 47 per cent consuming less than 300 cum per tonne. In general, requirements for water is least in straw and paperboard mills (75-1,000 cum per tonne) and highest in specialty paper mills (370-1,220 cum per tonne). And mind it, the paper we use for the purposes of the annual reports generally falls under this category of specialty paper.
Today, almost two decades later, the water consumption pattern has not changed much. According to the CSE study, on an average, large-scale Indian mills still consume about 250-350 cum of water per tonne of paper produced. Water consumption patterns and effluent discharges of Indian mills still vary substantially from mill to mill, even when the same process and equipment is used, which should not be the case. In contrast to the Indian scenario, the average water consumption in US mills has come down from 142 cum per tonne of paper produced in 1989 to 72 cum in 1995. The poor showing of the Indian mills can be blamed on the water-pricing policy of the government. Water literally comes dirt cheap to the mills so there is no attempt to regulate its use.
Based on the above information, we can safely conclude that by avoiding the annual reports printing, the government could help the nation by avoiding the use of about 9 billion litres of scarce water annually (@ 400 cubic meters per MT of paper). In terms of usage, this would mean total annual water requirement of about 2,45,000 persons annually (@ 100 litres per person per day).

Shareholders Responsibility too:
Are the share holders not equally responsibility. If all those decide not to insist on getting a printed copy of the annual reports, this amount of money can be taken out of the expenses and would straight away be added to the net profits of the companies. Considering an average cost of printing, packing, forwarding, postage etc. at say Rs. 20 per copy (at the lowest), this would mean an addition of about Rs. 44 Billion added to the net profits of these companies.
The bonus point will be the immense mental and administrative relief to the companies , who would not be required to undertake this voluminous unproductive work.
What about the role of the various governmental bodies and ministries like the Company Law Board, Finance Ministry, SEBI etc. etc.
The foreign exchange angle:
During the FY 2008-09, India’s import of paper stood at Rs. 370,630 Lacs and by quantity we had imported and Rs. 792,178.11 lacs respectively in the category nos. 47 and 48
This gives us a total of Rs. 11,62,808 Lacs. And that is huge amount of money in foreign exchange, which we can ill afford.
Considering the portion of imported paper/pulp, which is normally the paper used for all the annual reports, it will be a great service to the Indian Economy if such a step is taken.
The imports of pulp and waste paper have registered a 14.04 per cent rise during the last fiscal. The value of the imports stood at $558.22 million in the fiscal 2005-06 compared with $489.51 million in the previous fiscal.
The imports of paperboard were on the rise as well witnessing a 39.55 per cent increase during the last fiscal to $982.03 million compared with $703.7 million in the corresponding period last year, according to Government data.
Analysts attribute the jump in imports to the rising cost of raw materials for writing and printing paper, duplex board and newsprint. While pulp, waste paper and paperboard have registered a significant rise in imports, the increase in newsprint imports has been around 10.08 per cent during the last fiscal.
According to Mr R.R. Vederah, Joint Managing Director, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT) and President of the Indian Paper Manufacturers' Association: "The primary reason for the import of pulp and other intermediary products is because it is more cost-effective to do so." Analysts point out that the quantum of pulp imports is only going to increase in the future on the back of robust demand for paper in the country which is expected to grow in line with the GDP.
While companies such as BILT are resorting to acquisitions abroad to satisfy their raw material requirements, other paper firms such as Orient Paper and Industries Ltd (OPIL) are relying on local plantations to meet their needs. Mr M.L. Pachisia, Managing Director, OPIL, said: "We are not importing any pulp so far as we are able to meet our requirements though the local plantations."
Further, speculation is rife about the entry of two foreign newsprint companies into India, which are looking to set up a newsprint production unit in the country with the material sourced domestically. This, analysts observe, could lead to a fall in the quantity of newsprint imported.
The Business Line of the Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications, dated Friday, Aug 21, 2009 (Ref: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/21/stories/2009082151340300.htm
Coated paper import into India has seen nearly a 70 per cent upswing during the first quarter of the current financial year. Industry observers note that the export incentives by China have helped firms from that country make inroads into India affecting the local industry even as the latter reiterated its demand for the creation of a robust raw material base.
“Against imports of 25,097 tonnes in the January-March quarter, the imports of coated paper went up to 42,971 tonnes in the April-June quarter. Almost 50 per cent of the import is from China. The import of coated paper from China went up from 13,345 tonnes in January-March to 19,165 tonnes in the April-June period,” the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) said.
According to Mr R. Narayan Moorthy, Secretary-General, IPMA, “In view of the global melt-down, the Asian paper market continues to remain vulnerable and major players from countries such as China and Indonesia are pushing large quantities of coated and uncoated wood-free grades of paper into the Indian paper market.”
He said that the cost, insurance, freight (CIF) price reigning at more than $800 a tonne in January is now at little more than $700 a tonne leading to a surge in imports. India is among the fastest growing paper markets in the world, despite the economic slowdown.
Printed matter worth Rs 3,500 crore in the form of books and journals is imported into the country at zero rates of duty affecting the paper industry as well as the 1.5 lakh small and medium printers.
The industry has reiterated its demand for the creation of a robust raw material base through implementation of the multi-stakeholders partnership model proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The solution:
While we claim that we are implementing the e-governance, what stops us from incorporating a simple clause or a law that henceforth Annual Reports of the companies SHOULD NOT be printed but only made available to the users on an assured platform. And such an assured platform is none other than the web. In any case, this is already made available on the web sites under the existing law. The provision in the law can also incorporate a clause that if some one desires a printed hard copy of the annual report, the same would be made available at a cost. (This can be easily printed from the soft copy, even at a much higher cost). Once such a statute is put in place, no one can insist on getting hard copy.
The effected parties:
Of course, any such a harsh step would effect some quarters, viz:
1. The printers and publishers (for whom it may mean loss of opportunity and business)
2. The transporters: With an average of 10 MT per truck load, this accounts for usage of about 2,200 truck loads of transportation per year. These operators would loose this portion of the business. However, this also has its own share of carbon emission.
3. The packers and forwarders
However, the mute question is: Should we be really concerned about such loss of opportunity for a totally unproductive purpose, and at the cost of such an environmental impact. Should we also not be bothered about the environmental impact and should the government be not bothered about it’s own Corporate Social Responsibility?
Its time we ask a few soul searching questions, and put the much required statue in place for a productive purpose.

Share Market game

Dear Friends,
There is nothing wrong in one's own beleifs and feelings. So is with me.
For a long long time, almost 25 years, I have been debating with my colleagues about the share market.
Do we, I mean all those who spend time and play in the stock market, really know the dynamics of the whole issue.
After all, what are we up to?
When I buy a share or sell a share, excepting the BSE, who gains? Does any part of my transaction money find it's place in the accounts of the company I am dealing with?
NO.

Then, what are we really up to?
Do you see any sense in buying a share at an investment of Rs. 3,000 per share (, Remember, the face value of the share is only Rs. 10).
Even if the company declares a dividend of 100% (which is rare and impossible), all you will get is Rs. 10 per year, and that, on an investment of Rs. 3,000. Does it really make any sense?

Then the question is, What the hell are we doing?
Just playing amongst ourselves. To put it in simple terms, GAMBLING.

And in our foolishness, the only agency that makes the real money is BSE or the NIFTY or the broker companies, who are always the gainers, whether you loose or win.

Just think about it.