Panaji: Goa govt on Friday selected Credo Impex Pvt Ltd, in consortium with Agrahar Infra Pvt Ltd and Aravinda Infra Pvt Ltd, to redevelop Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited, the state’s only sugar factory.The project will be taken up through a public-private partnership. The selected bidder will design, finance, build, operate and later transfer the facility to govt. The estimated project cost is around Rs 130 crore.The bidder has offered govt a 0.2% revenue share. Chief minister Pramod Sawant urged sugarcane farmers to resume cultivation in Goa, saying the selected bidder will begin buying sugarcane from farmers next year.SSSKL was set up in 1971 and began operations in 1974. It had a crushing capacity of 1,250 tonnes of cane per day. The factory has been shut since the 2019-20 crushing season. About 2,40,000sqm of land has been marked for redevelopment.Govt plans to modernise the factory and increase its crushing capacity to at least 3,500 tonnes per day. The project also includes an extra neutral alcohol bottling plant and/or an ethanol distillery with a minimum capacity of 75 kilolitres per day.Govt said the redevelopment is linked to the Centre’s ethanol blending programme and is aimed at reviving sugarcane-based activity in the state, increasing value addition, promoting ethanol production and creating jobs.Directorate of agriculture is the authority in charge of the project. It authorised department of public-private partnership to manage the bidding and advisory process.The state received three bids. One bidder was found ineligible for not meeting the minimum criteria. The remaining two bidders, Sreenath Mhaskoba Sakhar Karkhana Ltd and the Credo Impex-led consortium, qualified for technical and financial evaluation.
