Pandavapura sugar factory to start crushing from August 11

Crushing of sugarcane at the Pandavapura sugar factory in Mandya district will start on August 11, BJP leader and MLA Murugesh Nirani, whose Nirani Sugars recently won the bid to operate the unit for a 40-year period, said.

The agreement copy of the same will be handed over on Friday.

The company plans to invest around Rs 600 crore in the coming years to upgrade the capacity of the plant.

Speaking to DH, Nirani said that three of the nine sugar factories in South Karnataka were sick. “When government invited a global tender to revive Pandavapura Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane (PSSK), Nirani Sugars’ bid of Rs 405 crore for 40 years was the highest among three bidders,” he said.

It was a qualified technical bid by Nirani Sugars, Nirani said, denying charges that the factory was offered as a favour after he was denied a Cabinet berth in the BS Yediyurappa government formed in 2019.

PSSK, which has a crushing capacity of 3,500 tonnes, will be upgraded to 10,000 tonnes. The factory had never crushed more than 3,000 tonnes. “There are plans to generate 40 MW power, two lakh litre of ethanol per day, 100 tonnes of CO2 and 150 tonnes of compressed natural gas," he
said.