Pelwatte Sugar Industries PLC is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

manufacturing company, which is listed on the

Colombo Stock Exchange The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) ( si, කොළඹ ව්‍යාපාර වස්තු හුවමාරුව, translit=Kolamba Vyapara Vasthu Huvamaruva; ta, கொழும்பு பங்கு பரிவர்த்தனை) i ...

. The main sugar factory of the group is located in

Buttala Buttala (බුත්තල) is a town in Sri Lanka. It is located in Monaragala District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. History The history of Buttala goes back to the time of King Dutugamunu in the 2nd century BC, when it was known as Guthala. The ...

in the

Moneragala District Monaragala (, ) is a district in Uva Province of Sri Lanka. It is the second largest of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka, with an area of . Main Towns * Monaragala * Bibile * Buttala * Wellawaya * Kataragama * Siyambalanduva * medagama * Thanam ...

Uva Province Uva Province ( si, ඌව පළාත, Uva Paḷāta, ta, ஊவா மாகாணம், Uvā Mākāṇam) is Sri Lanka's second least populated Provinces of Sri Lanka, province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two dis ...

, about from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

to the east of the country. Pelwatte Sugar was incorporated on 19 February 1981 as Pelwatte Sugar Company Ltd. It became a Public

Limited Liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company or partnership. If a company that provides limited liability to it ...

company on 10 December 1982. In 1990, the holding company changed its name to Pelwatte Sugar Industries Ltd. It was first quoted on the

in 1984.

History

In 1978 a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

funded study was undertaken to identify areas in

that are suitable for sugar cane cultivation to reduce the country's dependency of imported sugar. Based on the findings Booker Tate PLC of United Kingdom (formerly known as Booker Agriculture International Ltd) carried out a feasibility study into the introduction of cane cultivation under rain fed conditions and the establishment of a

factory at Pelwatte in the

, of the

. In 1981 Pelwatte Sugar Company Ltd was incorporated as a state owned company and functioned under the management of Booker Tate PLC. In 1997 the company established a subsidiary, Pelwatte Sugar Distilleries (Pvt) Ltd, which began operations in September, processing

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

and bio-compost from

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

a by-products of the company's sugar manufacturing process. In 2002 the Government of

sold its stake in the company on the

. A Sri Lankan company, Master Divers (Private) Limited, purchased 53.5% of the Company for Rs. 300 million. In 2006 the company launched a new subsidiary, Pelwatte Dairy Industries (Pvt) Limited, investing Rs. 1.8 billion on a dairy processing plant and animal feed production factory in the Monaragala District. In March 2011 Master Divers sold approximately 47% of the issued capital of the company to Melstacorp, which is a subsidiary of

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL) is a diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of US$600 Million. It was one of the first Sri Lankan companies to be listed in Forbes's Bes ...

PLC. Master Divers (Private) Limited and related parties holding approximately 36% of the capital. In November 2011 the government expropriated full ownership of Pelwatte Sugar and Sevanagala Sugar Industries Co Ltd, and its subsidiaries, under the controversial legislation, ‘The revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Act’. In March 2013 the Commercial High Court of Western Province issued a winding-up order for the company. The Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka still maintain that they are the legal owners of the company but they have also lodged an official claim with the Compensation Tribunal for their losses.

Operations

Pelwatte Sugar (PSIL) produces approximately of Sugar. Pelwatte Sugar Distilleries (Private) Ltd, a subsidiary company, began operations in September 1997 to process ethyl alcohol and bio

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...

from

a by-product of the sugar manufacturing process. The group employs about 1,300 permanent workers, about 3100 casual and seasonal workers. The Company operates a sugar factory that has a crushing capacity of of sugar cane. It has the lease ownership of a nucleus estate of approximately , settler area of and large number of growers in the Uva province.

References

{{authority control Agriculture companies established in 1981 Agriculture companies of Sri Lanka Food and drink companies established in 1981 Food and drink companies of Sri Lanka Government-owned companies of Sri Lanka Nationalised companies in Sri Lanka Sugar companies Sri Lankan companies established in 1981 Companies formerly listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange

History

Operations

See also

References