LAKHIMPUR KHERI In an extraordinary feat of heavy-haul engineering and cross-state coordination, a mammoth 240-wheel trailer carrying a 110-ft-long, 26-ft-wide reactor from Belgium rolled into Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday, nearing the finish line of a gruelling six-month road journey across four states.
The giant vessel—a cyclisation reactor—is the centrepiece of India’s first integrated sugar-to-bioplastic (Polylactic Acid, or PLA) plant being set up at Balrampur Chini Mills in Kumbhi village in UP’s Kheri district. Escorted by police personnel, three red-flagged pilot vehicles and a 40-member technical crew tasked with lifting overhead power cables and pruning roadside trees, the convoy was stationed at Chhauchh village along National Highway 730A on Wednesday before making its final push to Kumbhi on Thursday morning.
Months before the vessel even left Odisha’s Paradip Port, engineers conducted an exhaustive route survey through Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh to identify choke points. Along every leg of the journey, district administrations coordinated with the Public Works Department (PWD), local municipalities, forest officials, and electricity boards to temporarily dismantle highway signboards and clear overhead bottlenecks.
“Originally assembled with 308 wheels, the trailer’s wheel count had to be reduced to 240 in Jharkhand to negotiate difficult turns along the way,” a Kumbhi sugar mill official revealed. While the final logistics bill is still being tallied, senior mill officials pegged the transportation cost alone at ₹4 crore to ₹5 crore.
{{/usCountry}}“Originally assembled with 308 wheels, the trailer’s wheel count had to be reduced to 240 in Jharkhand to negotiate difficult turns along the way,” a Kumbhi sugar mill official revealed. While the final logistics bill is still being tallied, senior mill officials pegged the transportation cost alone at ₹4 crore to ₹5 crore.
{{/usCountry}}Entering Kheri from Bahraich district via the Sisaiya crossing in Dhaurahra tehsil, the vessel drew crowds of onlookers along the highway. Kheri district magistrate Anjani Kumar Singh confirmed that all departments concerned had been placed on alert to ensure smooth final-mile navigation to the mill premises.
Once the reactor reaches Kumbhi on Thursday morning and installation is completed, the landmark facility is expected to commence operations by next month, according to Sunil Kumar Yadav, general manager of the Balrampur sugar unit at Kumbhi.
“The vessel is a cyclisation reactor, the key machine in producing polylactic acid (PLA), a completely biodegradable plastic,” Yadav explained. “Sugarcane-derived sugar will first be converted into lactic acid, which will then be processed into PLA granules and pellets,” he added.
Calling it a globally unique facility, Yadav noted that its fully integrated model brings raw material processing and final biopolymer manufacturing under a single roof — offering a scalable green alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastic pollution.
The groundwork for the mega project was laid on February 22 last year when chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Gola Gokarnanath to lay the foundation stone for the ₹3,080-crore plant.
Alongside the main plant, a 200-acre industrial park is also proposed to house downstream ancillary units that will mould the PLA pellets into everyday eco-friendly products.
“When operational, the plant will add a new chapter to Kheri’s agriculture-based industrial development,” DM Anjani Kumar Singh said, adding that the project will steer the region towards sustainable industrial growth while unlocking substantial employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for local youth.