The Hindu Business Line : AP looks to procure Chinese machinery for sugar mills

Hyderabad, May 16 The Andhra Pradesh Government is seeking the support of the Chinese Government for the modernisation, expansion and co-generation of cooperative sugar mills in the State.

“We had discussions with one of the divisions of China National Automobiles Ltd and have sought their support for providing the equipment necessary for modernising the cooperative sugar mills in the State,” a Government official told Business Line.

He added that their help was sought as the Chinese Government had done similar work in Myanmar and Vietnam.

Recently Government officials from the State visited China to study the petrochemical industry and how special economic zones (SEZs) in the country were developed.

Investment

The State, in the next 18 months, plans to modernise five cooperative sugar mills with an estimated investment of Rs 107 crore in the first phase, with assistance from the Central Government. The total investment for the modernisation of all Government-owned sugar mills in the State is estimated at around Rs 267 crore.

While 40 per cent of the total investment will be provided from the sugar development fund of the Union Government, 50 per cent will be from State-run National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and the remaining 10 per cent has to be borne by the respective factories.

Production

Once the expansion and modernisation of all the cooperative units is complete then the capacity is slated to go up from the current 13,450 tonnes crushed per day (tcd) to 18,900 tcd and the co-generation is likely to go up from 6.15 MW to 58 MW.

“But first the Chinese company has to be empanelled on the list of companies approved by NCDC to procure the machinery as they are providing the majority of the funding. This is necessary just to ensure that we get a good quality product and the department concerned has been entrusted the duty to do the same,” he added.

The aspects which are likely to looked into will include pricing, quality and delivery schedules of the Chinese company.

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