Addis Ababa, Dec 26: Karuturi Agro Products, a
subsidiary of Indian giant Karaturi International, (Sai rama Krishna Karuturi, Chairman) is set to establish a
sugarcane factory in Ethiopia.
The factory, with an estimated capacity of crushing 7,000 tonnes of
cane a day, is to be built in Ethiopia's Gambella Regional state.
Some 15,000 hectares of Karuturi land in Gambella will start
producing sugarcane in three years, said Assefa Arega, manager of
Karuturi's sugarcane plantation. The company expects the crushing plant
to be ready in time for the harvest.
Karuturi is currently undertaking a feasibility study and work on the
sugarcane crushing factory, including site identification, supplying
and installation, will commence early in 2012.
The sugarcane plantation and the factory will be adjacent to each other, said Assefa.
Karaturi Group is one of the biggest flower exporters in the world
and has its farms in Ethiopia and Kenya. Establishing a sugar factory in
Ethiopia is expected to return significant economic benefits in terms
of domestic demand and also for import, he said.
The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation is to import 300,000 quintals of
sugar by February 2012 to fill the supply gap in the country. It is
estimated that the sugar, mainly from Brazil and India, will cost
Ethiopia $33 million.
Neighbouring countries like Djibouti, Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia
rely on imported sugar, according to a local newspaper, and this
dependence could reduce once the new factory comes up.
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