Sugar Company to Build India’s First Industrial PLA Plant
Balrampur Chini Mills has announced a €222.45 million investment for the 75,000 tonnes/year facility and one of the largest sugar manufacturing companies in India, has announced plans to build the country’s first industrial bioplastics plant.
The company, which already manufactures downstream products like ethanol, will obtain polylactic acid (PLA) from fermenting sugarcane into lactic acid.
The planed facility will have a capacity of 75,000 tonnes per year and is expected to be completed by mid 2027. Balrampur Chini Mills estimates to invest INR 20,000,000 (€222.45 million) in phases, according to a company statement.
The facility will be built next to an existing sugar plant in the state of Uttar Praadesh, northern India. The PLA plant will be integrated with this sugar plant, where a ‘significant proportion’ of the necessary infrastructure is already in place, according to Balrampur Chini Mills.
“We see the utilisation of sugar as a raw material in PLA production as pivotal for a sustainable future,” said Balrampur Chini executive director Avantika Saraogi. “Through the PLA project, our goal is to not only drive financial growth but also redefine standards in India’s sustainable economic landscape.”
Bioplastics installed production capacity reached 2.18 million tonnes in 2023 and is set to grow to 7.43 million tonnes by 2028, according to the latest European Bioplastics figures. PLA is expected to account for 43.6% of production capacity in 2028.
