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As the ethanol blending programme is gaining more attention from the Centre, market major, Shree Renuka Sugars (SRS) is planning to double its ethanol capacity to about 24 crore litres in about 18 months.
Chairman Atul Chaturvedi, in an interaction with BusinessLine, said that the company has an existing capacity of 12 crore litres per annum and in about 18 months this will reach 23-24 crore litres. The capex cycle has already started and will complete by the FY 2020 fiscal with an investment about ₹350 to 400 crore, he said.
SRS was recently taken over from the founder Narendra Murkumbi by Wilmar Sugar Holdings Pte. Ltd
The company has a subsidiary called KBK Chem Engineering Pvt Ltd, which is helping with the manufacture of equipment for ethanol production.
Chaturvedi said that the current level of ethanol blending in the country is about 3 to 3.5 per cent and next year this number could increase by another 2 per cent. However, in about three years, adequate ethanol capacity will get created and it help achieve the 10 per cent blending target, he said.
A number of sugar mills are adding new capacities and equipment such as incineration boilers are being added, which will also help in running the sugar mills in the rainy season.
Govt support
The Centre’s ₹6,000 crore interest subvention scheme will also provide more comfort to sugar mills. It should be also kept in mind that by 2030 ethanol blending could reach 20 per cent, which offers a lot of scope for new ethanol production capacities, Chaturvedi said.
The Chairman said that SRS was also evaluating if Indian raw sugars could be processed and exported to other countries. This could be achieved only if the Indian raw sugar rates are as competitive as imported Brazilian sugar. The company’s Kandla facility has a refining capacity of 1 lakh tonnes per month, therefore if the local raw sugar is available at competitive prices then SRS will procure it,
The Kandla plant has a large processing capacity, running around the year. Raw sugar requirement cannot be fully met by local millers. Therefore whatever local volumes of raw sugar can be procured competitively will be used at Kandla. “It is difficult to hazard a guess about the procurement volume but whatever is available would be procured” Chaturvedi said.
SRS also wants to expand the Madhur brand of refined sugar. It wants to transform it from a Western India brand to a pan-India brand.
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