The BJP President, Mr Nitin Gadkari-led Purti Group plans to increase crushing capacity of its three sugar mills by 2,000 tonnes crushed per day (tcd) to 8,500 tcd next year. The company owns three sugar factories in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and plans to invest about Rs 100 crore in expanding sugar capacities.

Besides, it plans to set up a 20 MW bagasse/bio-mass based power plant at the Waingang Sugar and Power Ltd at Devada in Bhandara district with an investment of Rs 115 crore by 2013.

The Wainganga factory, acquired through public auction for Rs 14.1 crore last year, was restarted on Tuesday in the presence of Ms Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chattisgarh Chief Minister, Mr Raman Singh.

The company plans to crush about 2 lakh tonnes of cane and produce about 20,000 tonnes of sugar in the first year of operations this year.

Inaugurating the crushing, Mr Gadkari told a farmers' rally at Devada that his firm was targeting the creation of some 40,000 rural jobs in the Vidarbha region next year through the company's expansion in bio-mass and sugar production.

The Purti Group, which operates four bio-mass power units in Vidarbha with a capacity of 60 MW, plans to double it to 125 MW by 2013.

The Group, with interest in sugar, power and solar sectors, recorded a turnover of Rs 330 crore and a profit of Rs 12 crore in the year-ended March 2011, said Mr Sudir Dive, Managing Director of Purti's power and sugar business. The company is targeting a revenue of Rs 500 crore for the current fiscal and Rs 1,000 by 2015, Mr Dive said.

Purti's sugar assets are valued at Rs 650 crore, while its debts stand at Rs 450 crore, he added.

Addressing the rally, Ms Swaraj blamed the faulty policies of the UPA government for the rise in inflation. Issues such as rising inflation and inadequate support price to farmers will be raised in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, she said.

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