NEW DELHI, July 15: The Indian paper industry, which is witnessing a sluggish trend owing to over capacity and low demand from the government, is likely to witness a revival by the middle of 1998-99, the Indian Paper Makers Associations (IPMA) has said.

``The paper industry would be back on rails by mid 1998-99 as some of the pulp capacity in Asia and Europe are expected to close down'', IPMA commercial sub-committee chairman K R G Krishnan said.

He said the pulp prices in the international market is likely to firm up by $50 dollars per tonne between July and September if production was curtailed to control stocks. However, paper prices could improve by 60 dollars a tonne between October and December, he added. ``This would mean that the industry would be on a solid ground by the middle of next year'', he said.

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