Sugar firm Balrampur Chini Mills' board has approved a higher investment of Rs 425 crore for a new distillery plant of 320 kilolitres per day (KLPD), which is expected to commence by December 2022.

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The board meeting held on Saturday approved the "revised capex (capital expenditure) of Rs 425 crore for the 320 KLPD distillery plant", the company said in a regulatory filing. Vivek Saraogi, MD, Balrampur Chini Mills shared his views.

“The capacity is going to remain the same, there are efficiency parameters which are getting an automation built-in. there is an extra-neutral alcohol (ENA) plant also coming in within this capacity, there is higher storage of ethanol being built-in,” he said.

“Having said that also, we are now expecting a higher recovery. So we have studied everything and we are hoping that in the same output of juice which the Maizapur is going to give, the plant should give a higher availability of ethanol,” he added.

In terms of prices, he mentioned, “We have seen prices in April move up from Rs 32 per kilogram to Rs 33-33.50 per kilogram already. In the summer months, demand will rise and the price could even go a little higher. Plus there is downside protection to MSP, there is a government policy that says you sell within a quota, don’t sell lower than MSP, we are exporting at a good rate, and we are also getting a good rate for ethanol. So entire revenue side is taken care by government of India.”

On debt, he shared, “We are hoping that our long-term debt – our projection show that it will be below 0.15 by March 2023.”

For the full interview, watch the video

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Apr 13, 2021 11:35 AM IST