Washington, D.C., June 12, 2003—
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement to provide an Indian rupee loan equivalent to $15 million to India's premier sugar company, Balrampur Chini Mills Limited.
The loan will partially finance an integrated greenfield sugar mill with a capacity of 4,000 tons of cane a day, an associated 20 megawatt cogeneration power plant in Haidergarh, Uttar Pradesh; and a 60 kiloliter per day ethanol distillery with a biomass fertilizer unit at the company's existing Babhnan plant in Uttar Pradesh.
The new plant is expected to process sugarcane from about 40,000 farms in the area, helping increase farm incomes since sugarcane is a very profitable crop. By producing ethanol for blending with gasoline, the company is supporting the government's policy of reducing the environmental impact of relying on fossil fuel. Electricity will also be generated on a sustainable basis through the use of bagasse, a byproduct of the milling process.
The company is also in discussion with the IFC-Netherlands Carbon facility to sell greenhouse gas emission reduction credits that will result from producing bagasse-based electricity at its Haidergarh plant, which will replace electricity generated by burning fossil fuels.
Mr. Vivek Saraogi, managing director of Balrampur Chini Mills said that he was very pleased with "IFC's quick response and its support for our outreach program to thousands of farmers in Uttar Pradesh."
According to Mr. Dimitris Tsitsiragos, director of IFC's South Asia Department, the project is "an example of IFC's commitment to support Indian companies that are modernizing to become more efficient and environmentally friendly".
"Companies like Balrampur Chini Mills ensure the sustainable use of resources and we are glad to assist them," said Jean-Paul Pinard, director of IFC's Agribusiness Department.
IFC's mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY 2002, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's worldwide committed portfolio as of FY 2002 was $15.1 billion for its own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
