Nayagarh: The sugar mill at Panipoila in this district was opened Thursday for maintenance work and to prepare an assessment report on how quickly it can be made functional again. The factory has been lying closed since 2015.
In the presence of District Collector Poma Tudu, sub-Collector Lagnajit Rout and tehsildar Bhikari Sahu, the gates were opened and a two-member technical team from Aska Sugar Factory started assessing the condition and value of machines.
Notably, Nayagarh was once known for its high quality sugarcane yields. Keeping this in mind the Nayagarh Sugar Mill was built by the Odisha government at Panipoli at a cost of Rs 18 crore and production started from 1988. Panipoli incidentally is just five kilometres from Nayagarh town and hence was in an advantageous location.
Hundreds of sugarcane farmers were registered as shareholders of the mill. Sugarcane cultivated over 7,000 hectares of land was used in the mill.
Initially the mill functioned smoothly, but when the first signs of production trouble brewed in 2003, it was sold to entrepreneur Trailokya Mishra in 2004 for a measly sum of Rs 5.22 crore. He ran the mill successfully for about 10 years and then after various mechanical problems cropped up, the mill was shut for good in 2015.
Now with the assessment work starting locals are hopeful that the mill will be functional again and will provide employment opportunities.
PNN