Empee Sugars and Chemicals hopes to attract an investor to revive its cash-strapped sugar business, according to a senior executive in the company.

The company operates a 3,000 tonne a day sugar mill in Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh, and is saddled with a ₹ 500-crore idle investment in a 5,000-tonne integrated sugar mill complex in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. The company established the Tamil Nadu plant in 2010 but was not able to achieve significant level of capacity utilisation. In the last three seasons the mill has not been operated due to lack of sugarcane in its command area. As of March 2013, the company’s accumulated losses were close to ₹90 crore.

Empee Sugars has mandated Hyderabad-based consultant Delta TRA to suggest various options. It is open to the idea of equity coming in or, if needed, selling the sugar business, according to the company official. It has held discussions with a group of NRIs and with some other sugar mills based in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, say industry sources.

The Empee Group, with interests in hospitality, sugar, power and alcohol, had hoped to restructure the sugar business to become a separate entity under the stronger Empee Distilleries. This was to take effect from April 2012 but this is stalled for now due to delays including court clearance, the source said.

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