Once-abandoned Valachchenai paper mill resumes operations
In the quest for an industrial renaissance despite the protracted coronavirus lockdown, the government has reopened the once- abandoned Valachchenai paper mill which was considered an asset to the country more than six decades ago.
The National Paper Corporation (NPC) has resurrected the defunct paper mill with Indian technical assistance and a test run of the machine has been successful, NPC Chairman Wimal Rupasinghe told the Business Times.
The first stock of paper made in Sri Lanka at the renovated and modernised Valachchenai paper mill will be released to the market in August, he revealed.
The factory will produce paper for school textbooks and cardboard packaging material for industrialists initially.
Once the factory is in full operation, the paper mill will provide 400 jobs for youth in the area.
The 300 acres adjacent to the factory site will be developed as an industrial park and tourism zone; he said adding that a large scale print museum will also be built to attract tourists.
The Ministry of Small and Medium Business, Enterprise Development, and Industries will seek Rs.800 million from the Treasury to set up large solar parks, water recycling plant and a water bottling plant at the site.
The Valaichchenai Paper Mill had to be modernised and there were only around 80 workers at the mill and majority of the workers were over 60 years old, a senior official said.
It had been making losses for over the last three decades and was once earmarked to be closed.
It was in 2011 that the then management of the National Paper Company Limited sought a sum of Rs.1,800 million for the renovation of the Valaichcenai Paper Mill which was installed in 1955 as a government owned entity.
The mill could operate at its optimal capacity if it could be given a cash injection, he suggested.
The paper mill would be able to manufacture at least 2,000 MT of paper and board items per month and emerge as a profit making entity with this ongoing proper investment and development plan, he said.