NEW DELHI – Sugar mills with distillery units in Uttar Pradesh have started getting clearances from the government for making sanitisers to meet the surge in demand for the product, several industry officials said.
Demand for sanitisers in India has risen since the spread of the novel coronavirus gathered pace, leading to unavailability of the product and higher prices. On Saturday, the Centre asked state governments to give permission to distilleries on a priority basis to produce sanitisers in bulk.
Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd has started manufacturing sanitisers at a capacity of around 1,000 ltr per day at its unit in Uttar Pradesh, a senior official with the company said. The Hargaon unit of Birla Sugar has also started making 2,000 ltr of sanitiser per day from today.
"Yesterday (Monday), we started manufacturing sanitiser with 70% alcohol content at our Balrampur unit, and we are also packing it on our own. We have also applied for licence to make sanitiser at our Gularia unit," the official said.
Some other sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh have also applied for licences to produce sanitiser in the country to fight the disease called COVID-19, an official with Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mills Association said.
"We have given an assurance to the government as well as to the Hand Sanitiser Manufacturing Association that whatever quantity of raw material they require anywhere in the country will be provided to them. 25-30 companies including large ones have agreed to manufacture hand sanitisers themselves in the service of the nation. It will take some time because clearances need to be done since it is a controlled item," Indian Sugar Mills Association Director General Abinash Verma said.
Uttam Sugar Mills Ltd has applied for licence to produce 2,000 ltr sanitiser per day at its Barkatpur unit, while Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd has applied for a licence to produce about 5,000 ltr sanitiser per day.
Dalmia Bharat Sugar has applied for licences for its two units in Jawaharpur and Nigohi to produce 200 ltr per day each and Daurala Sugar Mills has applied to produce 2,000 ltr per day, the industry official said.
KM Sugar Mills and Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd have also applied for licences to produce sanitiser, while Mawana Sugars Ltd will provide extra neutral alcohol to distilleries to produce the hygiene product.
The food ministry has also asked state governments to ensure availability of ethyl alcohol and extra neutral alcohol for the manufacturers of sanitisers.
"Six distilleries in Punjab have started supplying raw material to government from Monday morning, and 10 have applied for sanitiser manufacturing to state drug controllers in various states…It will take some more days to give licences to others," a senior food ministry official said.
On Friday, the government capped the retail price of hand sanitisers of 200 ml capacity at 100 rupees, while those of higher quantity would be priced accordingly. These prices will remain in effect till Jun 30.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose to 492, according to the latest data by the health ministry. Of these, 446 are active cases. The disease, which has been called a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has claimed nine lives so far in India, while 37 infected patients have recovered.
At 1444 IST, shares of Balrampur Chini Mills were 4.8% lower at 72.90 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, while those of KM Sugar Mills were up 0.9%. Shares of Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Mawana Sugars, Triveni Engineering & Industries and Dhampur Sugar were down 10% each, while those of Uttam Sugar were down 8.5%.