Karnataka - Belgaum   

Malaprabha sugar unit to increase crushing capacity

Belgaum: Shri Malaprabha Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane Ltd. at M.K. Hubli in the district has decided to expand its crushing capacity and establish a cogeneration plant to optimise its resources and improve financial stability.

Announcing this here on Saturday, factory chairman and former Minister D.B. Inamdar said that steps had been taken for an expansion programme and the crushing capacity would be increased by 2,500 tonnes a day. Once the expansion programme was completed, the crushing capacity would go up to 6000 tonnes a day.

The cogeneration plant to produce 28 MW of electricity would be set up. Efforts were on to mobilise funds for the purpose, he said.

Mr. Inamdar said that the factory, which was facing losses owing to various reasons, started making profits since 2005-06. Preliminary estimates showed that the profit for the crushing year 2007-08 accounted for Rs. 101.98 lakh. Between May 21 and June 23, the factory produced 2,04,176.60 litres of ethanol. He claimed that MSSK was the first factory in the State to give Rs. 900 a tonne (ex. bill) during 2007-08 when the Centre announced Rs. 928 as statutory minimum price for a tonne of sugarcane. In addition to it, on the State Government’s direction to pay Rs. 160 over and above the statutory minimum price, the factory had paid Rs. 171.20 a tonne of sugarcane to growers, he said.

He said an average sugar recovery of 10.9 per cent was recorded for 2005-06. It was 10.30 per cent during 2006-07 and 10.8 per cent during 2007-08. He attributed the fall in sugar recovery to low sucrose content in sugarcane.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Malaprabha sugar unit to increase crushing capacity
Delay in arrival of YBR disappoints schoolchildren

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu