Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Approves Revival of Closed Chhata Sugar Mill in Mathura for ₹200-250 Crore Ethanol Plant
The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has approved a proposal to reopen the Chhata sugar mill in Mathura district for ethanol production. The mill has remained closed for nearly 19 years. The approval was among 23 proposals cleared at the Cabinet meeting, announced by Cabinet Minister Suresh Khanna, with Cabinet Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary stating that the initiative would put the long-closed industrial unit to productive use while benefiting sugarcane farmers in the region.
The project is planned as Uttar Pradesh's first multi-unit plant of its kind, combining ethanol production, sugar manufacturing and electricity generation at the Chhata site. It is estimated to cost between ₹200 crore and ₹250 crore and will be executed in three phases.
The mill was originally set up by the Sugar Corporation in 1978 with an installed capacity of 1,250 tonnes crushed per day (TCD), later expanded to 2,500 TCD in 1994, before being shut down in 2009 due to cane shortages and mounting losses. Under the revival plan, crushing capacity is proposed to be expanded to around 4,900 TCD, with a distillery component and cogeneration of electricity from bagasse, the by-product of cane crushing.
The project is aligned with the state government's broader push to revive defunct sugar mills for ethanol production, part of a wider effort to expand the state's biofuel capacity and improve payment timelines to sugarcane farmers. Uttar Pradesh currently ranks as India's second-largest ethanol producer by installed capacity, after Maharashtra.