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Bajaj Hindusthan Limited (BHL) was incorporated on 23rd November, 1931 under the
name - The Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited on the initiative of Jamnalal Bajaj - a
businessman, confidante, disciple and adopted son of Mahatma Gandhi. He sought
Gandhiji's blessings in this new venture, which, apart from being a sound commercial
proposition would also meet a national need. Till then, there were barely thirty sugar
factories in the country.
The site selected for the first plant was at Golagokarannath, district Lakhimpur Kheri
in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh (UP), an area rich in sugar cane. The original
capacity of the factory was 400 tons of cane crushed per day (tcd). Subsequently,
this capacity was increased in stages and is currently 13,000 tcd. The distillery Unit
at this plant commenced production during the end of World War II in 1944. In the
initial few years, the major output was in the form of power alcohol as an additive to
petrol, which was then in short supply. The unit was the first to supply alcohol-mixed
petrol to the army.
In 1967, a new Company - Sharda Sugar & Industries Limited - was established as a
subsidiary of Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited. Under this new subsidiary, a sugar
plant with a cane crushing capacity of 1400 tcd was set up in 1972 at Palia Kalan, a
large cane supplying centre at a distance of about 70 kilometres from
Golagokarannath. The objective of this new Unit was primarily to help the cane
growers of the area supply their produce to the new location closer to their fields,
thereby cutting down on transportation costs. The capacity was subsequently
increased in stages to reach the present 11,000 tcd.
In the year 1988, The Hindusthan Sugar Mills Limited was renamed as Bajaj
Hindusthan Limited and shortly thereafter in 1990, Sharda Sugar & Industries
Limited was amalgamated with Bajaj Hindusthan Limited.
The Company embarked on an aggressive Greenfield expansion drive in 2003-
2007, starting with a plant at Kinauni, near Meerut (UP), which was completed in a
record time of just seven months as against the industry norm of 18-24 months. This
facility commenced commercial production in November 2004.
At the end of the expansion project in 2007, BHL had ten sugar manufacturinglocations across UP with a cane crushing capacity of 96,000 tcd and was also the
countrys largest ethanol producer with an output of 480 KL/ day.
In an acquisition move, the Company took over the Pratappur Sugar and Industries
Limited (PSIL), district Deoria, Eastern UP in December 2005. This Plant, in operation
since 1903, had a crushing capacity of 3,200 tcd, which was increased to 6,000 tcd
in the subsequent sugar season 2006-07.
PSIL was subsequently renamed Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Industries Limited
(BHSIL) and became a subsidiary of BHL. This acquisition provided BHL a strategic
foothold in the sugar-deficient region of Eastern UP and reaffirmed the consolidation
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that took place in the sugar industry.
BHSIL embarked upon significant new expansions. While the capacity of its existing
sugar plant at Pratappur was enhanced, three new sugar units were also set up in
virgin, cane-rich areas of East UP at Rudauli (district Basti), Kundarkhi (district
Gonda) and in Utraula (district Balrampur). BHSIL then, had a crushing capacity of
40,000 tcd and a distillery with the capacity to manufacture 160 kilo-litre per day of
ethanol. The total industrial alcohol/ ethanol capacity of the Company, including its
subsidiary, was 800 KL/ day.
With the commissioning of three bagasse-based power co-generation plants at
Kundarkhi, Rudauli and Utraula, BHSIL had an aggregate power generation capacity
of 95.8 MW. Combined with the power generation capacity of 325 MW from BHL, the
Companys total generation capacity is 420.8 MW. After meeting its own energy
needs, the Company has a surplus of 90 MW. It supplies a significant part of this
surplus power to the UP state grid.
In December 2010, BHSIL was amalgamated with BHL.
The Companys growth initiative has been led by a strategic focus of attaining global
scales of manufacturing and cost competitiveness. Such benchmarking provides BHL
advantages of cost and higher domestic market share where demand is expected to
outstrip supply for the next few years.
BHL is in a unique position. While its planning and processes are benchmarkedagainst global practices, its activities are directed at contributing to the Indian rural
economy at a local, grassroots level, primarily in the uplifting of the farmers. The
Company embarked on an expansion, the scales of which are unprecedented
worldwide, providing tremendous opportunities of employment, infrastructure and
community development and contributing to the growth of the rural economy of UP.
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