Board Matters

Greenply Industries ranked 413 on the Fortune India 500, is the largest producer of plywood and medium-density fibre (MDF) in the country. The Indian plywood and panel market is estimated at Rs 15,000 crore, with organised players accounting for a mere Rs 4,500 crore. Seen here is Greenply’s MDF plant at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Like other Asian producers, the company has been hit hard by the Myanmar government’s decision to stop teak exports. (Myanmar is the leading source of raw material for much of the plywood industry.) To add to its challenges, the BJP government’s focus on building new urban infrastructure in India has augmented already high domestic demand. In response, Greenply is pushing its timber plantation-cum-agroforestry model as a long-term, sustainable solution that eliminates much of the uncertainty of the timber business. Its strategy to reduce dependence on imports, coupled with an improvement in the overall economy, has seen its stock price double to Rs 800 levels last year.