About 70 Maharashtra sugar mills gear up for oxygen manufacturing

To fulfill the climbing desire for healthcare oxygen to handle Covid-19 sufferers, about 70 sugar mills in Maharashtra are gearing up for manufacturing oxygen.

“This is a timely step taken by mills in Maharashtra. About twenty five mills are by now in the course of action to established up oxygen crops and we are focusing on about 60-70 sugar mills that have financially carried out very effectively. Bulk of these mills are in rural parts and the desire for oxygen below could be fulfilled by sugar mills,” mentioned Prakash Naiknavare, MD, Countrywide Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF).

He extra, “Mills will will need to modify distilleries for oxygen manufacturing. Also, mills will have to just take care that the commitments of ethanol source are fulfilled. With oxygen manufacturing, mills are shouldering social accountability. Also, this could be a company design for the mills.”

Naiknavare extra that NFCSF is heading to talk about oxygen manufacturing with sugar mills in other States.

Orders pour in

BB Thombare, President of West Indian Sugar Mill Affiliation (WISMA), told BusinessLine that fifteen mills which includes private and cooperative mills have put orders for skid-mounted oxygen manufacturing units. “We have approached brands in China, Taiwan as local brands mentioned they would involve 8-10 months to fulfil the orders. Each individual plant has the ability to refill ninety-100 oxygen cylinders each day which will be presented to authorities and private hospitals at a nominal price,” mentioned Thombare.

He extra that mills have put orders for 600 oxygen concentrators.

WISMA has appealed to sugar mills aross the region to established up one particular plant each and procure twenty five oxygen concentrators to fulfill the oxygen need in their localities.

Not long ago, Nationalist Congress Bash (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar had held a assembly of millers to talk about oxygen manufacturing in mills. Of the 190 sugar mills that began crushing this time in Maharashtra, 167 mills have shut their crushing operations and 23 sugar mills are even now operating.

Company design?

Last yr, as Covid-19 situations multiplied, a lot of sugar mills began sanitiser manufacturing. In accordance to industry gamers, mills benefited from sanitiser manufacturing despite offering the item at minimal charges.

In accordance to some of the essential gamers in the industry, sugar mills have no process to manufacture oxygen and will need molecular sieve modification in ethanol plant for filtering oxygen. “What happens to the investment decision when there will be no desire for medicinal oxygen?,” one particular of the senior industry gamers reiterated talking to BusinessLine.

Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) headed by Sharad Pawar, NFCSF and WISMA are together doing work on a extended-phrase strategy on oxygen manufacturing so that mills carry on to be in the company even after the desire for healthcare oxygen recedes.