District Una to get two new sugar units

The foothills of the Shivalik hills in the Una district, supposed to be fertile lands for growing sugarcane, are emerging as a hot spot for the sugar industry.

Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh government had cleared the integrated sugar plant of Gurgaon-based Mapex India Private Ltd. This was followed by the recent clearance given to Sri Sai Sugar Mills to set up a Rs 600-crore sugar factory.

Both facilities will come up in the Gagret area of the Una district, bordering Punjab's Hoshiarpur district.

Speaking to Business Standard, the Himachal Pradesh Co-operative and Industry Minister, Kuldeep Kumar said the state government's endeavour was to promote the region, and bring about industrialisation along with developing agriculture.

"The Una district is fast emerging as a sugarcane district, which will bring about economic revolution in the district, as well as generate employment for nearly 10-15,000 people directly and indirectly," said Kumar.

Mapex India, with an investment of Rs 354 crore, is going to set an integrated sugar plant, with co-generation facility and a capacity of 45 Mw, along with a distillery and a brewery. The project will span over 400 acre of land.

Sri Sai Sugar Mills will set up a combo manufacturing facility for sugar ethanol and power generation, according to Deepak Sabharwal, managing director, Sri Sai Sugar Mills.

"We are looking at 100 acres of land. As soon we shortlist the land, we will start operations", said Sabharwal.

However, as of now, it is the paucity of land which is deterring such large scale projects in the region.

Acknowledging the problems faced, Kumar said the government was not liable to provide land and that it was up to the industry to negotiate with local farmers to start operations.