The Hindu Business Line : TN sugar sector on brink of major expansion

According to sugar industry sources, Empee Sugars and Chemicals, Dharani Sugars and Chemicals, Shree Ambika Sugars, Bannari Amman Sugars and a new entrant into the sugar business, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars, have been allocated sugarcane command areas — the area earmarked for the sugar mills to exclusively source sugarcane from farmers — in different parts of the State.

This will be among the largest expansions in the sugar sector in the State. According to industry experts, the mills are expected to have sugarcane crushing capacities from 2,500 tonnes crushed a day (tcd) to over 5,000 tcd, with cogeneration and distillery linked to the mills.

Sugar mills would generally start with mill capacities based on the available sugarcane in the area and expand with the development of sugarcane in the area. On an average, a company setting up a 5,000 tcd sugar mill with a 30-MW cogeneration capacity and a 60 klpd (kilolitres a day) distillery will invest over Rs 450-500 crore in the project.

5,000 tcd mill

According to a press release from Empee Sugars and Chemicals, the company is planning to set up a 5,000 tcd sugar mill with a provision to expand to 8,000 tcd. It will have a 50-MW cogeneration plant and a distillery with a capacity of about 100 klpd of Extra Neutral Alcohol.

The Rs 500-crore project is expected to go on stream in 2009. Company officials said that work on the project would start in July and the potential they have assessed in the area is about 3 lakh acres of sugarcane. The company has put in place a 1,000-acre nursery to supply the sugarcane setts to the farmers.

Dharani Sugars has earlier announced intention to set up a 5,000 tcd sugar mill, 30-MW cogeneration facility and a 100 klpd distillery with a total investment of about Rs 450 crore. The details are being finalised, company officials said.

Bannari Amman Sugars is looking at a sugar mill in the range of about 2,500 tcd to 3,500 tcd. While Shri Ambika Sugars, an associate company of Thiru Arooran Sugars, is considering a 2,500 tcd mill to start with, details are not yet finalised, according to officials.

Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Sugars is to come up near Perambalur and is a new venture by a promoter with interests in textiles and education sector.

More Stories on : Sugar | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
MCX inks MoU with IDEAcarbon

NMCE settles June contracts

Depression in Bay drives up monsoon vigour

Push for growth

‘Godavari Fert will supply entire output from July’

Spot rubber prices gain marginally

TN sugar sector on brink of major expansion

Water released from Grand Anicut for Kuruvai cultivation

Lint prices rule steady

Cashew prices firm up on lower global output

Rising crude prices fuel futures trade

Coffee output seen up on helpful weather