Balrampur Chini Mills, one of the largest sugar producing companies, will invest ₹2,850 crore in India’s first plant to produce green polymers using sugarcane as raw material.
Avantika Saraogi, Executive Director, Balrampur Chini Mills, told businessline that the plastic products produced from these polymers will be completely eco-friendly and can emerge as an alternative to all single-use plastic products including straws, tea cups, disposable cutlery, trays, bottles and curd cups.
The product made of green polymers is 100 per cent compostable in industrial facilities and can be converted into biogas, biofertilizer or energy.
Versatile product
Branded under Balrampur Bioyug, the new plant being set up by Balrampur Chini will have an annual capacity to produce 80,000 tonnes of Polylactic Acid (PLA) by diverting about 1.3 lakh tonnes of sugar from its annual production of about 9.3 lakh tonnes.
Derived from renewable resources, PLA is a versatile polymer that offers strong mechanical performance and durability, making it apt for diverse applications while being more sustainable.
Strategically located adjacent to Balrampur Chini Mills’ existing sugar factory at Kumbhi in Uttar Pradesh, the upcoming PLA plantis expected to become operational next year.
India’s first industrial scale biopolymer plant will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy for its entire production process, and also the first plant location where sugarcane is transformed into PLA in a single integrated site.
The company expects PLA to deliver the highest realisation among value-added products produced from sugarcane.
Pricing
Saraogi said the company expects a turnover of ₹2,000 crore at full scale of operations and the EBITDA margin to be about 35 per cent.
The response from the user industry has been tremendous and they are willing to pay the premium for eco-friendly polymers, she said. The PLA polymers will be priced at about ₹240 a kg, while the conventional polymers priced at ₹125 a kg.
Given the response from the industry, Saraogi said the company would not be surprised if it has to double the capacity in two years of full operations and this will not only benefit the environment but also boost lakhs of farmers earnings who have been the backbone the company.
“Our capacity will be low given the fact that the straw making industry itself consumes one lakh tonne of plastics annually,” she added.