PANAJI
After two unsuccessful attempts, the State government’s efforts to revive the Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (SSSK)”the State’s lone sugar factory located at Dharbandora and shut since 2019”have received an encouraging response, with four companies expressing interest.
In view of the renewed interest, the government has decided to extend the deadline for submission of bids till February 5.
The government had in November invited Request for Proposal (RFP) for redevelopment of the sugar factory at a cost of Rs 130 crore under the public private partnership (PPP) model. The last date for submission of bids in online mode was January 6, 2026, while in physical mode, it should be sent by January 8.
Speaking to 'The Goan', PPP director Rajan Satardekar said that so far, four companies have shown interest and have also participated in the pre-bid meeting held last month. “Following requests from the bidders, we have decided to extend the deadline for submission of bids to February 5,” he said.
Previous attempts to revive the factory through private investors failed miserably. While in 2022, the two bidders, who opted for the Request for Qualification bid, failed to qualify, in 2024, not a single bidder showed interest.
According to RFP, the agriculture department intends to undertake the re-development of the existing SSKL plant for a sugarcane crushing capacity of not less than 3,500 TCD along with the setting up of a bottling plant and an ethanol production plant of capacity not less than 75 KLPD through Public Private Partnership (on Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer basis), and, therefore intends to short-list suitable bidders for awarding the project through a transparent competitive bidding process,” the RFP stated.
The total land area available for development is approximately 2,40,000 sq metres. As per RFP, at present, sugarcane is cultivated in about 550 Ha, producing about 60,000 tons of sugarcane per year in Goa. In addition, the SSSKL had been sourcing sugarcane from nearby areas in the neighboring States, before it was shut down from 2019-20 crushing season.
The ailing SSSK's closure has significantly impacted more than 700 sugarcane farmers in the State, who for the past three to four years relied on the hope to see its revival, before a large number of them shifted to cultivation of other crops and are either no longer growing sugarcane or the production is much below what it was in the past.
