The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti - Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development
The Minister answered a question on Sri Lanka’s sugar industry, stating that four sugar companies exist, of which Hingurana Sugar Industries and Kantale Sugar Company are not operational. He reported that Sri Lanka imported 564 million kg of sugar in 2024 at a cost of Rs. 112 billion, and about 140 million kg in January–February 2025 at about Rs. 24.757 billion, while current stocks stood at 23,696 MT of sugar and 2.35 million litres of ethanol. He outlined measures to increase domestic production, including expanding cultivation, establishing a 1,000-hectare breeder seed farm, improving agronomic practices, introducing modern irrigation and mechanization, expanding factory crushing capacity by 2,500 tons per day, and raising sugar recovery to 8 percent.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer to that question is as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) Four (4).
¶ 03 (ii) Names: 1. Lanka Sugar Company (Private) Limited 2. Gal Oya Plantations (Private) Company 3. Hingurana Sugar Industries Company Limited (not in operational status) 4. Kantale Sugar Company (not in operational status)
¶ 04 (iii) The details are provided in the annex. The key point is national sugar consumption via imports: - In 2024, we imported 564 million kg (56.4 crore kg) of sugar at a cost of LKR 112 billion. - For January–February 2025 alone, about 140 million kg were imported at a cost of approximately LKR 24.757 billion. - Detailed year-by-year figures from 2022 to February 2025 are in the annex.
¶ 05 [Annex – Sugar Imports (2022 to Feb 2025), by HS codes: - 17019910 (Refined cane sugar), quantities and values by year; - 17019920, 17019930, etc.; totals for 2024: 444,996,852 kg valued at LKR 88,900,256,475; with earlier year breakdowns as listed. Note: re-exports and special-purpose imports excluded.]
¶ 06 (iv) As at 03.03.2025, accumulated stocks: - Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Company: Sugar 6,000 MT; Ethanol 2,000,000 L - Lanka Sugar Company (Pvt) Ltd: Sugar 17,696 MT; Ethanol 350,000 L Total: Sugar 23,696 MT; Ethanol 2,350,000 L
¶ 07 (v) Measures to increase domestic sugar production: 1. Expand cultivation into new areas to increase harvest. 2. Establish an isolated breeder seed farm of 1,000 ha under Gal Oya Plantations (Pvt) Company. 3. Introduce improved agronomic methods (e.g., ladder and ring-pit). 4. Raise yields through: - Integrated weed management; pest and disease control; - Integrated soil nutrient management; selection of suitable varieties; - Soil pH mapping; proper cultivation methods; reducing fertilizer wastage; - Introducing modern irrigation (e.g., drip irrigation); - Enhancing bio-fertilizers (e.g., golden wash, liquid fertilizer, biochar, black gold, growth promoters, soil conditioners, vermiwash [Eisenia fetida]); - Mechanization (mechanical planting), silage preparation, compost applicators, soil rippers; precision agriculture. 5. Factory expansion projects: increase crushing capacity by 2,500 tons per day. 6. Increase sugar recovery percentage up to 8 percent.
¶ 08 (b) Does not arise.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 6 June 2025 ·No. 1750753418078417 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti - Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 June 2025. No. 1750753418078417. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28318