Jun 17, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Ballarpur Industries Ltd., India's largest maker of writing and printing paper, plans to raise prices of some of its products by as much as 2.1% as faster economic growth stokes demand for paper used in advertising and computer printouts. Ballarpur will increase the price of its uncoated paper by INR 600 ($13.8) a ton to about INR 35,600 ($817) from July 1, B. Hariharan, group finance director of the company, said in a telephone interview in New Delhi. It will increase the price of copier paper, used for computer printouts, by INR 750 ($17.2) a ton to INR 36,750 ($843), he said. Faster economic growth has encouraged companies to spend more on advertising and marketing, boosting demand for coated paper, which is typically used for advertisements and other publicity material. India's economy is estimated to have grown 6.9% in the year ended March 31, compared with an average 5.7% the previous four years. “There's robust market demand,'' said Hariharan. “Faster economic growth is leading to more consumption of quality paper.'' He expects the increase in prices to add INR 160 million ($3.7 million) to the net income of the company in the year ending June 30, 2006. The company's profit increased 36% to INR 442.1 million ($10.1 million) in the three months ended March 31. The papermaker had said on April 27 it plans to raise some paper prices by 2.5% in the quarter ending June 30. Ballarpur increased the price of uncoated paper, which accounts for about 60% of revenue, in April by about 2%. It increased the price of coated paper by about 4% in September.