# Which paper mill upgrades qualify for SIDBI's Green Climate Fund loan?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/sidbi-gcf-loan-paper-mill-equipment

SIDBI's September 2026 assessment for pulp and paper lists 43 technologies its Green Climate Fund programme can finance, from high-efficiency refiners, shoe presses and drum pulpers to fluidised bed boiler conversions and condensate recovery. Mill equipment is Category B and needs a site-specific plan; effluent treatment, ZLD and captive solar are low-risk Category C.

## The list, by mill section

- Pulping: high concentration pulper, hi-consistency pulper, drum pulpers, bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp, extended delignification for wood cooking.
- Refining and screening: high-efficiency refiner, low consistency refining, multi-functional combined screen, and punched metal and slit screens with a maceration machine for waste paper.
- Pressing and drying: shoe press, high-concentration size press, pocket ventilation, dryer bars inside the dryers.
- Drives: VFDs replacing Dyna drives, AC drives for the paper machine and winder, rewinders with VFD controls, vacuum blowers.
- Steam and heat: conversion from stoker to fluidised bed boiler, boilers fired on paper sludge and other solid waste, heat recovery boilers, steam recompression heat pump, cascaded condensate recovery, seven-effect falling film evaporator, oxyfuel burner.
- Chemical recovery and washing: recovery unit for spent liquor, black liquor gasification, modern brownstock washers, screw washer.
- All of the above are Category B. Category C: captive solar within the mill, electric vehicles and charging, effluent treatment or ZLD, rainwater harvesting and green buildings.

## Your mill's CPCB colour

- Agro and wood based pulp and paper, bleached or unbleached: Red.
- Waste-paper based with bleaching: Red.
- Waste-paper based without bleaching, 15 tonnes a day or more: Red; below 15 tonnes a day: Orange.
- Corrugated boxes and paper products without pulping or boilers: White.

## What SIDBI checks before sanction

Before sanction SIDBI's officer and environmental expert verify that your Consent to Establish, Consent to Operate and factory licence are valid. Category B projects then go through detailed due diligence and carry a site-specific environmental and social management plan. A Red category mill with a lapsed consent should renew it before applying, because a lapsed consent stops the file before the upgrade is even assessed.

## Choosing what to put in the application

The list is indicative, and the final category is decided case by case after a site visit. Pick the upgrade whose saving you can show from your own records: refiners, drives and vacuum systems show up in the power bill, while boiler conversions and condensate recovery show up in coal or biomass per tonne of paper.

## Low consistency refining at a 60 tonne a day kraft mill (assumed figures)

- Mill type: waste-paper kraft, unbleached, 60 tonnes a day, so Red category (15 tonnes a day or more)
- Refining power: 80 kWh per tonne now, 60 kWh per tonne after (use the supplier's guarantee)
- Power saved: 20 kWh x 60 tonnes x 330 days = 3,96,000 kWh a year
- CO2 avoided: 3,96,000 kWh x 0.675 kg per kWh (CEA grid factor, FY 2025-26) = 2,67,300 kg, about 267 tonnes a year

If the refiners are not separately metered, a month of sub-meter readings before the change gives the before figure SIDBI will want.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads your power bills and coal or biomass invoices into kWh and fuel per tonne of paper, month by month: the baseline a refiner, drive or boiler upgrade is measured against, and the after figure once it runs. SIDBI decides the loan.

- [Green loan readiness check](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)
- [Paper mill carbon footprint per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/paper-mill-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Is a paper mill covered by CCTS?](https://senseible.earth/answers/is-a-paper-mill-covered-by-ccts)
- [Finance for ETP or ZLD upgrades](https://senseible.earth/answers/green-loan-for-etp-or-zld-upgrade)

Sources: [SIDBI, GCF-FMAP ESIA and ESMP, Direct Finance, Pulp and Paper sector (2 September 2026): 43-item technology list with categories, CPCB classification table, pre-sanction consent checks](https://www.sidbi.in/assets/front/pdf/Pulp_and_Paper_English.pdf), [CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0: 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh for FY 2025-26](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-30. SIDBI revises its sector assessments; re-check the Green Pathways e-series page every quarter.