Sugauli/Lauria Sugar plants to start this crushing season: bringing cash and electricity!
Lauria/Sugali: according to the latest reports, the HPCL Biofuels plants constructed at Sugauli and Lauria in Champaran will be commissioned on 24th October and start production soon after 15th November this year. After the Asset Transfer and long term Lease Agreement was signed between HPCL and Bihar State Sugar Corporation Limited, GoB on 18th January, 2009, a new wholly owned subsidiary company of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited under the name ‘HPCL Biofuels Limited’ was incorporated on 16th October, 2009 to handle the Integrated Sugar Ethanol Co-gen Plants at Sugauli and Lauriya.
As a part of backward integration, HBL has set up fuel ethanol plants for addition into petroleum fuels, through the integrated sugar, ethanol and co-gen power plants, co-existensively at Sugauli and Lauriya. HBL’s revamped and modernized plants have the following configuration:
1. Crushing Capacity – 3500 TCPD
2. 50% juice will be converted to Sugar and 50% Juice will be converted to Ethanol
3. Distillery plant of capacity 60 KLPD
4. Co-gen plant of 20 MW.
According to the data provided by the company officials, while each of the plants will use up 4-5 MW of power, the rest [around 40 MW] will be sold to BSEB. Notably, this much power is adequate for the two districts of east and west Champaran. For the 130 days of the crushing season, the bagasse will provide fuel for power production while husk and corn cobs would do the job for the rest of the year.
The picture that emerges from the above data clearly indicates that the sugar-ethanol industries are what may trigger the first round of intensive industrialization in the state. On the one hand they provide a great source of cash among the local farmers and on the other do not even ask you for power, providing you substantial amounts of power instead. As we all know, dependence on coal-based thermal power is a risky proposition for any industry in Bihar today. This is why the sugar mill story is doubly sweet – it gets you cash and then it again it gets you power!