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Monday, July 18, 2011

Gal Oya sugar by November

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The multi-purpose Gal Oya Sugar Factory Complex operated by the consortium of LOLC and Browns Group will open in November. The factory, with the consortium having 49 percent stake and the government 51 percent will produce brown sugar, electricity and also supply purified water to the national grid.

Galoya Plantation Pvt Ltd CEO Gamini Ratnayake told Daily News Business that the consortium had invested almost Rs two billion for this venture to turn around the factory to operating status.

The factory complex which was owned by the government since 1959 was closed for 15 years due to union unrest and mismanagement.

Ratnayake said they are planning to produce 120 metric tons of brown sugar per day. “Our main aim is the local market as Sri Lanka imports over 80 percent of its consumption,” he said.

Around 10,000 hectares of land which was earlier used to grow sugarcane was used by farmers to grow other crops including paddy. Since taking over the factory from the government the consortium has also managed to grow 250 hectares of sugarcane needed for their operations through a farmer outgrower system.

Ratnayake added that they will be also producing their own electricity for the factory and the excess (two Megawatts) would be ‘sold’ to the national grid. “We have invested Rs. 200 million for this project,” he said.

The third project of the company would be to purify water and supply it to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. The investment for this project is Rs 15 million. The new management is also looking at reactivating the distillery but stressed that they would not be manufacturing liquor.

“We hope to manufacture spirits and provide them as raw material for other productions,”Rathnayake said .

The factory has provided direct employment to 4,400 farmer families and 2,000 non-irrigated farmer families and contributes towards the upliftment of their livelihoods with new revenue streams.
source - www.dailynews.lk