Question

Bamboo, grass and _____ are raw materials for the paper industry in Tamil Nadu.
A) Bagasse
B) Fruit pulp
C) Cotton plant bark
D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint:
Tamil Nadu has twenty-four small-sized mills accounting for nearly 6 percent of the total installed capacity of the country. Since ages, bamboo, soft woods etc had been the traditional fibrous raw materials in the paper industry throughout the world.

Complete step by step solution:
Despite the digital revolution, the usage for paper is growing globally.
Bamboo: Bamboo is a quickly renewable source. The commercial process uses real bamboo canes and bamboo pulp for making paper. Bamboo paper is gaining attention from companies and for eco-friendly printing and sustainability.
Bamboo pulp is a kind of paper pulp like wood pulp, straw pulp or reed pulp. It is commonly made from moso bamboo, Phyllostachys pubescens and Sinocalamus affinis by carrying out sulphate digestion process or soda process. The bamboo pulp can be made into bamboo paper. Paper made from bamboo is strong and it has broad applications. The bleached bamboo paper is used to make typing paper and high-grade culture paper. The unbleached bamboo paper is used in package papermaking. Beside this, bamboo pulp and wood pulp are mixed and utilized to produce cable paper and insulation paper. By adding 40 percent of grass fibres to the pulp or groundwood, significantly less energy is used in the production process compared to the production of conventional packaging material made of pure cellulose pulp. Also, the production of grass paper and grass cartons saves a lot of water. The grass for the manufacture comes only from the compensation areas near the paper production plants. Thus, no forage is diverted and no long transport routes are needed. The use of grass fibre in paper and cardboard production decreases the carbon dioxide emissions up to 75 percent, thus not favouring environmental pollution.
But due to the global shortage of these raw materials, the paper industry had been looking out for the possibilities of using alternate fibrous raw materials particularly agricultural residues like bagasse.
Mainly, bagasse is used as a raw material for the paper industry. It is used for each one of the four main paper categories, namely, packaging in boxes, printing, writing and photocopier tissues and newsprint. Both chemical and mechanical pulping processes are used. Many tropical and subtropical countries such as India, Columbia, China, Iran, Thailand and Argentina have been commonly using bagasse as a substitute of wood for the production of paper and board. Bagasse produces pulp comprising physical properties that are well fitted for generic printing and writing papers as well as tissue products but is used widely for boxes and newspaper production too.

Hence, in Tamil Nadu, the paper industry requires bamboo, grass and bagasse as raw materials. Therefore, the correct option is A.

Note:
Bagasse is also used for producing heat and electricity in sugar mills. It is used for feeding cattle as well as for making disposable bagasse containers too.
Some major producers of paper in Tamil Nadu are Cheranmahadevi, Pallipalayam, Udmalpet, Chennai, Salem, Amaravathinagar, Pahanasam, Madurai, etc.