Move to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar:

Hingurana factory to resume operations

by Shirajiv Sirimane

The Hingurana Sugar Factory which was closed for almost 15 years will commence producing sugar from next September.

The factory which was built as one of the largest sugar factories in the region with state-of-the-art British machinery started operations in 1959.

It was also one of the most capital intensive factories in the region. The factory functioned smoothly until the mid 1980 s when it was privatised and given to a single owner.

During this time the Sevenagala, Pelwatte and Kantale factories too were functioning and the country was heading towards achieving self-sufficiency in sugar. At that time the factory in addition to sugarcane was also manufacturing spirits and had its own electricity since 1962.

The sugar factory that was originally commissioned by the Gal Oya Development Board was transferred to the Sri Lanka Sugar Corporation in 1966.

The capacity of the plant is 2000 tons per day. The factory consists of three roller five mill tandems with a vacuum pan sugar processing system. The plant produced crystal sugar and followed the distillation process.

Meanwhile the Hingurana distillery was supplied by a French firm, Lapage Urbain and Cie has a processing capacity of 30 metric tons of molasses per day to produce 9000 bulk litres of spirit per day.

However, the entrepreneur who took over the factory could not manage the property despite the growing demand for sugar in the country. Mismanagement, labour and union unrest paralysed the operations of the factory.

In addition to the workers, the out growers who supplied sugarcane to the factory were left high and low and eventually the government took over the property in 1999. A voluntery retirement scheme was offered and the workers were compensated.

Two years ago under the Mahinda Chintana program to re-structure abandoned State entities the Hingurana factory was handed over to a consortium which comprised LOLC and the Browns Group. The government held a 51 percent stake in the company. The plantation consists of 7,659 ha of land with approximately 5,200 ha of cultivable land allotted to 4,400 families.

The rest of the area is occupied by factory buildings, housing complexes, high lands reservations, field roads and drainages. The project area is divided into five major zones-Varipathanchena, Galmuduwa, Deegawapi, Hingurana and Neetha. The consortium first re-activated the out growers concept offering farmers plant material and the technical know-how.

CEO of the company, Gamini Ratnayake, said that today the farmers in the area are about to harvest and they are expected to earn around Rs. 150,000 from each plantation. This is a blessing in disguise for them.

The consortium has also invested Rs. 1.2 billion on machinery and the production will start by end of September. We will first import and refine sugar and then our own sugar will be marketed in February 2012. The company will initially concentrate on brown sugar as there is a demand for it.

The new management will also re-activate the distillery but he emphasised, that they would not manufacture liquor. We will give the spirits so that manufacturers can make perfumes and other related products.

He also disclosed plans to provide 2 MW of energy to the national grid using sugarcane waste. In addition they also hope to set up a water purification plant and provide water to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.

The revival of the Kantale and Hingurana factories in addition to saving foreign exchange on imports of sugar would also provide employment for over 5,000 people which will help raise the living standard of the people in the areas.