Sugar is becoming an increasingly important part of the business of the billion dollar Indian company Dalmia Cement. A further two sugar mills are now being built in Ramgarh Chini, in Uttar Pradesh region.

Hydraulic drives from Hägglunds Drives will once again play a key role in the investment.

“The Hägglunds’ drive systems give us the best yield,” says Gautam Dalmia, Vice President of Dalmia Cement and head of the sugar business area.

The Dalmia Group’s investment in sugar began in the mid-nineties with a sugar mill at Ramgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Its second and third mills was been commissioned during 2006. Together, it is estimated that the three mills will process 22 500 tonnes of sugar cane per day presently. The first mill currently has 21 Hägglunds’ motors, while the two other plants will use 14 motors each in the first phase and will go on to 30 motors each for the enhanced capacity in future as planned.

The company has set its sights high. In the cement industry Dalmia Cement has grown to become a leading international company. Expectations in the sugar sector are equally high.

Innovation is an important aspect of the massive investment in the Ramgarh Chini mills.

The mills use the latest technology, including drive systems from Hägglunds Drives with computer controlled crushing and processing of sugar cane juice to market high quality sugar. The plants also use a heat recovery system.

“We considered the new investment very carefully. After discussions with other users of electromechanical drive systems among others, we decided to go with hydraulics.

“The advantages of hydraulic over electromechanical drive systems are so obvious,” he says, pointing out that this eliminates the need to install bulky equipment such as transmissions, foundations and cooling systems. “Hägglunds’ direct drives allowed us to build the mill with a roof span of 22 metres instead of 26–28 metres.

C S Sharma, General Manager (Technical) of the company, is convinced that the new installation result in power savings.

Hägglunds Drives AB is based in Mellansel, Sweden. www.hagglunds.com