Vellore sugar mill moves record units of power to state grid

CHENNAI: The Vellore cooperative sugar mill has set a record by moving 1.24 crore units of power to the state grid after crushing 1.55 lakh tonnes of cane.

Conveying this to DT Next, mill chairman M Anandan said, “the mill started crushing operations on January 29 and concluded it on May 7 resulting in the production of 1.43 lakh qunitals of sugar. However, the bigger feat is that the mill achieved high power export figures despite crushing only around 1.55 lakh tonnes cane whereas even the Cheyyar cooperative sugar mill in Tiruvannamalai district which crushed slightly more than 2 lakh tonnes cane was not able to match our figures.”

Touted to be one of the best functioning cooperative unit in the state, the Vellore mill’s current year’s achievement has resulted in the state government fixing a target of crushing 2 lakh tonnes cane for the next season.

However, Anandan said, “we have increased this figure by another 50,000 tonnes and we plan to enrol more farmers in and around the sugar mill at Ammundi.”

What helped the mill in the last season was the regular meetings between officials and farmers to to get their canes instead of sending for jaggery production.

“The Vellore unit has kept no dues and it is one of the main reasons that enthused farmers to supply their cane loads to the mill. The same method will continue this year also” Anandan said, adding, “we also plan to encourage farmers to opt for the pit planting method which nearly doubles the yeild per acre.”

K Raja, a farmer of Palleri in nearby Ranipet district’s Wallajahpet taluk, who opted for this method said, “I harvested 70 tonnes per acre through the new method, whereas the traditional method will give only 40 tonnes.”