Hingurana Sugar Factory Gets New Lease Of Life Under New MGT

The revitalized Hingurana Sugar Factory managed under Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of the LOLC Group has recorded the highest ever sugar production of 19,960 metric ton for the year 2014/15 through successful sugar cane cultivation spanning 3,440 ha of land.

This record breaking production is achieved after 38 years and is by far the largest sugar production output compared with other local producers in 2014. This is a significant achievement for the factory considering its tumultuous past.

THE GIANT OF ASIA
The Hingurana sugar manufacturing factory located in the Galoya valley was first built and opened in the 1960s. Gifted by the Czechoslovakian government, the factory was fondly known as “The Giant of Asia” and was one of the largest sugar factories to be built using modern machinery in the region.
During the intervening years, it functioned as a government and semi government body providing direct employment to over 1,000 employees and livelihoods to over 4,000 cane farmers, whilst generating direct and i ndirect employment and revenue streams to over 20,000 people in general, until it was privatized in the 1980s.

During this time, other sugar producing factories l ocated i n Sevanagala, Pelwatte and Kantale also had successful operations, steering Sri Lanka towards becoming a self-sufficient nation in sugar production and sugar cane cultivation.The Hingurana factory functioned well into 1993, until it was forced to cease operations due to poor management, labour and union issues.The Sri Lankan government at the time took over the property under its wings until an investor was found to reestablish operations.

RESTRUCTURING
As a result, in 2009, restructuring of the once abandoned Hingurana sugar factory was begun subsequent to a j oint venture between t he Government of Sri Lanka and a private sector consortium led by Brown & Company PLC and LOLC.
This venture marked a milestone in history as t he first publicprivate partnership in the co u n t r y. According to this partnership, 51 percent of the ownership of the property was retained by t he government while 49 percent owned by the Browns Group together with LOLC.
The revitalized sugar factory commenced operations under the Management and Board of Directors of the new managing company, Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, which was formed in 2009.

BACK IN BUSINESS
The factory, after initial renovations, commenced operations on the 16th of July 2012, for the first time after 15 years.At present, the operations of the Hingurana factory are overseen by Chief Executive Officer of Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Ltd, Gamini Ratnayake and its Chief Operating Officer, DaneshAbeyrathne.

Under this new management, steps were taken towards restoring the operations of the factory from the bottom up. They reappointed skilled workers who were previously employed by the factory as they possessed vast experience and seasoned knowledge about cultivation, existing machinery etc.
Explaining, Gamini Ratnayake, Chief Executive Officer said, “Once the Gal Oya Plantations was formed, it was an uphill battle to reinstate the Hingurana sugar factory to its former glory. By the time we restored operations, many of the employees and farmers who had previously engaged in sugar cultivation and production had abandoned hope due to various issues they had experienced in the past.

Therefore, initially, great efforts and investments were made towards creating awareness among them by way of door-todoor campaigns, group discussions, meetings etc to restore their faith and confidence once more.” In addition, the Company set up a separate research division, theAgronomy Department, in 2010 to oversee and improve the production of sugar cane seeds and to conduct research on various aspects of sugar cane cultivation. This division has been successful in multiplying 08 SRI bred varieties including the popular commercial varieties in Hingurana, and maintains over 134 SRI sugarcane clones as future planting material sources as well as for trial programs. In addition, the Agronomy Department conducts extension programs and provides regular awareness on sustainable agronomy practices to farmers to yield high, disease-free crops.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Illustrating major achievements to-date, Ratnayake said, “By 2013/14, we have been extremely successful in cultivating more than 3,800 ha of land which is 85 percent of the total cultivable extent. We hope to cultivate the remaining extent of land by next year.”According to him, new sugar cane cultivation has increased by 10 folds since 2010/11 which had only occupied 1,562 ha of land. By 2013/14, the total cultivated area had been increased by 13 folds spanning 3,440 ha of land. As a direct result of this revitalization program, 3,718 farmers are currently engaged in sugar cane cultivation which is 82 percent of the total number of farmers required. The Company hopes to increase this number up to 100 percent by next year.

“Our objective is to uplift the income and socioeconomic standard of the farmers and the community as a whole.We have also aimed at developing domestic production of sugar and contribute towards uplifting the national economy by helping to retain outflow of foreign currency for sugar imports.”According t o statistics made available in the Agriculture Symposium 2014, the annual sugar requirement of Sri Lanka is 600,000 MT. However, the country produces only 9 percent of this total requirement whilst the rest is imported. In 2012 alone Sri Lanka has spent Rs. 45 billion in sugar imports. With the government planning to increase domestic production by 40 percent by the year 2020, and with 4 existing sugar factories identified to be upgraded to meet this demand, the Management and Board of Directors of Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Ltd are confident in the future output of the Hingurana sugar factory, which has already demonstrated notable progress.

THIRD SUCCESSFUL YEAR
Also commenting, Danesh Abeyrathne, Chief Operating Officer of Gal Oya Plantation (Pvt) Ltd said, “We are celebrating the 3rd successful year of sugar production after commencing operations in 2012.Within a short period, we were able to record the highest production of sugar, the highest sugar recovery percentage from sugarcane cultivation and the highest percentage of cane crushing in Hingurana since its launch in 1960.

In addition, we became the highest sugar producer in Sri Lanka for the year 2014. We expect higher output records in the near future. We have also been able to elevate our sugar cane cultivation and sugar production standards to reach global industry levels”.As at 30th September 2014, Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Ltd has invested Rs. 3.2 billion towards the resuscitation of the Hingurana sugar factory. The year’s turnover has risen to Rs. 1.8 billion from the previous Rs. 938 million in 2013/14.

FUTURE INVESTMENTS
The Company further hopes to invest Rs. 2.6 billion towards the completion of the Distillery and Power Generation projects currently in the pipeline. An agreement has been already drawn for a new 21.5 KLPD distillery which is expected to commence operations in October 2015 and a power generation project to commence in May 2015.

In addition, the company already possesses capacity to produce 2 MW of electricity for the factory’s usage and has a separate water treatment plant with capacity to generate up to 250,000 liters per hour. The water generated is used for factory operations while the excess purified water sold to the national water supply and drainage board.

Further explaining, Danesh Abeyrathne said t hat Gal Oya Plantations had been able to successfully create more than 20,000 direct and indirect employments, whilst extending employment opportunities to areas such as Ampara and Siyambalanduwa.He said, “In addition to employment generation, the re-opening of the Hingurana sugar factory has uplifted livelihoods in surrounding communities and generated new revenue streams. We have witnessed development seeping into the surrounding areas during the past few years, especially in infrastructure development.

“Development efforts of roadways and canals have helped the communities immensely. Inner roadways have been upgraded for easy access and transportation, while canals have been renovated with the assistance of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage for irrigational purposes,” he concluded.