Citurgia unit closure hits Surat textile firms

Citurgia, set up by the Wadias of the Rs 3,000 crore Bombay Dyeing group, manufactures citric acid and calcium carbonate.

The total consumption of citric acid in the country stands at 12,000 tonne. The Surat unit, with a production of over 6,300 tonne of citric acid, had almost a 50 per cent share of the domestic market.

The Surat textile printing and processing industry is one of the main consumer of citric acid produced by Citurgia.

Pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, confectionery and food-processing are the other user industries.

According to industry sources, the overall consumption of citric acid in Surat was 200 tonne, of which around 125 tonne was accounted for by the textile industry in Surat.

Citurgia was the main supplier of citric acid to 400 textile mills in Surat and with its closure, the industry now has to opt for imported citric acid which comes mainly from China, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea.

"The main problem in the Chinese variety is that there is a lot of variation in different lots and even the strength is less," says Jyotindra Lekhadia of Krishnaram Silk Mills, one of the biggest and oldest mills of Surat.

According to another mill owner, "Citurgia has closed down but we are feeling the loss."

South Gujarat Textile Processors Association general manager Haresh Sarraiya said, "Even if you put the total consumption of citric acid by textile mills at 300 kg per month and if we take the total number of textile mills at 380 (as per the textile committee figure), then the total consumption works out to 125 tonne."

The citric acid produced by Citurgia was available at Rs 51 per kg.

"For every one kg of citric acid produced by Citurgia, now we have to use around one kg and 600 gm of imported citric acid," he said.

Imported citric acid, mainly of Chinese origin, is available at Rs 48 per kg. The Vadodara-based Bilt Bio chemicals also manufacturers citric acid but is allowed to sell only 20 per cent of its production in the local market.