Balrampur Chini sets up India's first biopolymer manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh
24 Feb 2025
Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd (BCML), one of the largest sugar mills in the country, is diversifying further by venturing into the production of Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), or bio-polymer, with a fully-integrated manufacturing facility at Kumbhi, in Lakhimpur district of UP.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday inaugurated the unit, which will produce biodegradable plastics, an alternative to single-use plastics.
This is the first-ever industry scale bio-polymer plant in India, which is aligned with sustainability goals and combatting climate change.
Production of biodegradable polymer is a significant step towards sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives in packaging, biomedical, textiles, food as also various other applications, the chief minister said while inaugurating the plant.
Polylactic Acid is specially useful in the production of daily use items such as cups, plates, cultlery, straw etc that are environment friendly, he added.
The project, with an investment of Rs2,880 crore, will be the country’s first integrated plant to operate on renewable energy. The plant will use sugar, corn and tapioca as raw material and PLA production will start by December 2026.
However, the advancements in technology for converting sugar into PLA will be crucial in making the process more affordable.
With current technology, 1.6 kg of sugar is needed to produce 1 kg of PLA, Avantika Saraogi, executive director of BCML, pointed out. This should be reduced to at least 1.2 kg of sugar for PLA production to be viable, she added.
The plant will have an initial capacity of 80,000 tonnes, which will be scaled up once production starts, Saraogi added.
Speaking at the event, state chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said that with current global PLA production of 2.1 million tonnes, there is a huge opportunity for the country to take a major share of the market for PLA.
However, according to Stefan Barot, president of the chemicals division of BCML, a total ban on single-use plastics is crucial for the success of PLA and its products.
BCML is using technology provided by Austria’s Alpine and Switzerland’s Sulzer.
