Gal Oya to boost sugar output

Murali Prakash

Gal-Oya Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, which had last year produced sugar at its plant for the first time after an absence of almost 15 years, has plans to cultivate a further 1,300 hectares in the coming year with over 2,200 hectares of land already cultivated, a top official from the firm said. During the year ended March 31, 2013, the company’s total marketable sugar production stood at 3,315.7  metric tons with 53,806.51 metric tons of cane crushed following the production of the commodity in the refurbished factory commencing on July 16, 2012.

“This is a significant achievement not only from a Group point of view, but also from a community point of view, as the livelihood of over 4,000 farmer families was revived and the factory introduced much needed economic activity to the Hingurana area in the Ampara district,” Group Managing Director/CEO of Brown & Company PLC Murali Prakash said at the release of the company’s Annual Report 2012/2013.

Presenting his review for the year, Prakash said the revival of the Gal Oya sugar factory evidence of how an entire village has benefited from the operations: the livelihood for over 4,000 farmer families have improved with subsidies and financing assistance provided by Browns; the local economy in general was revived through provision of jobs for people in an area that has been neglected over the past 15 years; it has contributed to conservation of the environment with the factory producing electricity for its own use, as well as providing a health benefit to approximately 1,000 households by distributing purified water through the company-run water purification plant.

He further noted that for the first time in Sri Lanka a sugarcane harvesting machine had also been imported during the financial year to mechanize the harvesting process of the cane fields. “The machine harvests 100 – 160 metric tons of sugar cane per day in comparison to the one metric ton per day per one manual labor day,” he pointed out.

The plantation consists of 7,659 hectares (ha) of land with approximately 5,200 ha of irrigated land allotted amongst 4,400 families. The project area is divided in to five major zones, namely Varipathanchena, Galmaduwa, Deegawapi, Hingurana and Neetha. A nucleus estate with an extent of 166 ha of land with a water scheme will be supporting the 5200 ha of cultivatable land for sugar cane.Gal-Oya Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, (GOHL) is a consortium formed by Brown & Company PLC, Lanka Orix Leasing Company PLC and the Government of Sri Lanka as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

The new company was formed in 2009 as a joint venture between the Government of Sri Lanka and the consortium, where 51% of the ownership is retained with the Government of Sri Lanka and 49% of the ownership is with the consortium. The consortium was appointed as the exclusive management agent to revitalize the former Hingurana Sugar Industries Limited that has been closed since 1997.

- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/biz-news/item/21121-gal-oya-to-boost-sugar-output.html#sthash.zID1eolF.dpuf

Gal-Oya Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, which had last year produced sugar at its plant for the first time after an absence of almost 15 years, has plans to cultivate a further 1,300 hectares in the coming year with over 2,200 hectares of land already cultivated, a top official from the firm said. During the year ended March 31, 2013, the company’s total marketable sugar production stood at 3,315.7  metric tons with 53,806.51 metric tons of cane crushed following the production of the commodity in the refurbished factory commencing on July 16, 2012.

“This is a significant achievement not only from a Group point of view, but also from a community point of view, as the livelihood of over 4,000 farmer families was revived and the factory introduced much needed economic activity to the Hingurana area in the Ampara district,” Group Managing Director/CEO of Brown & Company PLC Murali Prakash said at the release of the company’s Annual Report 2012/2013.

Presenting his review for the year, Prakash said the revival of the Gal Oya sugar factory evidence of how an entire village has benefited from the operations: the livelihood for over 4,000 farmer families have improved with subsidies and financing assistance provided by Browns; the local economy in general was revived through provision of jobs for people in an area that has been neglected over the past 15 years; it has contributed to conservation of the environment with the factory producing electricity for its own use, as well as providing a health benefit to approximately 1,000 households by distributing purified water through the company-run water purification plant.

He further noted that for the first time in Sri Lanka a sugarcane harvesting machine had also been imported during the financial year to mechanize the harvesting process of the cane fields. “The machine harvests 100 – 160 metric tons of sugar cane per day in comparison to the one metric ton per day per one manual labor day,” he pointed out.
The plantation consists of 7,659 hectares (ha) of land with approximately 5,200 ha of irrigated land allotted amongst 4,400 families. The project area is divided in to five major zones, namely Varipathanchena, Galmaduwa, Deegawapi, Hingurana and Neetha. A nucleus estate with an extent of 166 ha of land with a water scheme will be supporting the 5200 ha of cultivatable land for sugar cane.Gal-Oya Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, (GOHL) is a consortium formed by Brown & Company PLC, Lanka Orix Leasing Company PLC and the Government of Sri Lanka as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

The new company was formed in 2009 as a joint venture between the Government of Sri Lanka and the consortium, where 51% of the ownership is retained with the Government of Sri Lanka and 49% of the ownership is with the consortium. The consortium was appointed as the exclusive management agent to revitalize the former Hingurana Sugar Industries Limited that has been closed since 1997.
- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/biz-news/item/21121-gal-oya-to-boost-sugar-output.html#sthash.zID1eolF.dpuf

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