Sugar production at the Sevanagala unit of the State-owned Lanka Sugar Company (Pvt) Ltd has declined significantly, falling from 16,215 metric tonnes (MT) in 2020 to 8,091 MT last year (2025), according to information provided by the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development.
Opposition Parliamentarian H M Dharmasena raised a question in Parliament yesterday (4) regarding the State-owned sugar manufacturing facilities in Monaragala.
Responding on behalf of the subject Minister, Chief Government Whip Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said that there are two State-owned sugar manufacturing facilities in the Monaragala District, namely the Sevanagala and Pelwatta units of the Lanka Sugar Company.
The production figures submitted by him show that the Sevanagala unit recorded its highest output during the six-year period under review in 2021, producing 17,796 MT of sugar. Production subsequently fell to 12,628 MT in 2022, before increasing slightly to 13,704 MT in 2023. It then declined to 11,930 MT in 2024 and dropped further to 8,091 MT in 2025.
The Pelwatta unit, meanwhile, recorded comparatively higher production. It produced 23,582 MT in 2020, increasing to 30,381 MT in 2021. Production then fell to 24,110 MT in 2022, before rising to 28,077 MT in 2023. The unit produced 27,791 MT in 2024 and 27,361 MT in 2025.
The figures also show a significant difference in the number of sugarcane suppliers to the two units, with 4,955 farmers supplying the Pelwatta unit compared to just 39 farmers supplying the Sevanagala unit.
Meanwhile, Dharmasena questioned the failure to commence operations at a biofertiliser manufacturing plant established on premises owned by the Lanka Sugar Company at considerable expense to the State.
He said that although the facility had been completed, it had not commenced biofertiliser production and was instead being used to store sugar.
"This plant was established to manufacture fertiliser using waste generated by the distilleries during ethanol production. More than 350,000 litres of wastewater are discharged daily from a distillery, with more than 13 litres of wastewater generated for every litre of alcohol produced," he said.