ITC celebrates completion of 100 glorious years of Chirala plant journey

CHIRALA: Crossing a historic milestone, ITC Agri Business Division’s Chirala factory in Andhra Pradesh has completed 100 glorious years of operations. Popularly known as the Chirala Green Leaf Threshing (CGLT) plant, the factory with three processing lines, has the highest processing capacity for a single location.

Set up in 1922, the Chirala factory is also the largest among ITC’s three threshing factories. The state-of-the-art Chirala factory has been a pioneer in the areas of energy conservation, mechanization, automation, digitalization and employee safety.

Known as a testing ground for path-breaking innovations, the factory has areas fast adopted technologies such as introduction of laser technology and implementation of Industry 4.0. It was also an ‘industry-first’ in terms of conceptualising and putting in place manufacturing lines utilising 4-level high piggy-back units that significantly enhanced efficiencies and outcomes.

ITC chairman Sanjeev Puri visited the plant and inaugurated the pylon installed to mark the celebration of 100 years of plant on Saturday. ITC director (ABD), S Siva Kumar, Divisional Chief Executive Rajanikant Rai and Chief Executive (ABD) HN Ram Prasad were also present. Sanjeev Puri congratulated the team of Chirala plant and ABD for turning the plant a model for other plants.

“The plant is an exemplar in sustainable practices. The integrated facility with the incoming, in-process and final products all at a single location, is highly energy efficient. Adopting a low carbon growth path, the unit has been running on green power through ITC’s 46 MW Wind Park at Anantapur,” said Ram Prasad.

He said that they have set a target to achieve a renewable energy share of 94% in 2029-30 from 21% in 2018-19. The unit is also an exemplar in waste management, recycling more than 99% of its generated waste. Since its inception a century ago, this factory has played a major role in employing the local people to play a gainful role in stabilizing the region and enabling economic growth in the area.

The factory is also the largest direct employer in Chirala. The unit’s meaningful contribution to the social transformation of the area for a century has earned the plant the epithet of a ‘Thalli’ (Mother) company. Nearly 20% of staff at the facility are third and fourth generation employees who have a strong emotional connection with the unit. A winner of multiple awards for safety and environment, the Chirala factory has also been felicitated by national and international bodies on numerous occasions for business and process excellence.

“As we commemorate this special occasion of completing 100 years of operations, we would like to celebrate our achievements and collectively work for an even brighter future for the factory and the ecosystem in Chirala. This journey of 100 years is undoubtedly a tribute to all our stakeholders including farmers, customers, partners and our dedicated employees past and present and we would like to thank each one of them for their contribution," said H N Ramprasad, SBU Chief Executive, Agri Business, Leaf Tobacco Business, ITC Ltd.

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