Sugar Initiative Targets Self-Sufficiency with New Estates

The council’s sugar initiative plans to establish 10 new greenfield estates, targeting $2.1bn in equity and $5bn in debt financing. These estates are projected to generate 835,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually at full capacity.

Bakrin outlined three strategies to bridge local production and consumption gaps: enhancing existing estates, expanding current operations, and attracting new investors for additional estates. This approach aims to boost domestic production beyond two million metric tonnes annually.

Each new estate will function as an integrated industrial hub, producing sugar, ethanol, and electricity. The initiative seeks to reduce reliance on imported sugar and conserve foreign exchange through increased self-sufficiency.