The sponsor has presented plans to address these impacts to ensure that the proposed project will upon implementation of the specific agreed measures, comply with environmental and social requirements, host country laws and regulations and the World Bank/IFC environment and social policies and environmental, health and safety guidelines. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the sponsor is summarized in the paragraphs that follow. Further information is provided in the attached Corrective Action Plan (CAP).
- Mumbai Port area (Patalganga) Refinery
Ruchi Soya purchased the 55 acre site required for the new refinery at Patalganga Industrial Complex, which is a designated industrial area for industries in the vicinity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal, from private owners in a willing buyer, willing seller relationship. This facility is highly automated and incorporates all modern equipment. Water supply for the refinery includes on site ground water wells and the Patalganga River. These sources will be supplemented by rainwater collection during the monsoon season (June-September). Raw water will be demineralized and disinfected for internal uses. Electrical power will be supplied by partially from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board grid and partially by a captive cogeneration plant on site. The cogeneration plant will supply steam and power and burn low ash Indonesian coal in a fluidized bed combustor. The facility can also burn higher ash content Indian coal. Emissions from the boiler will comply with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) regulatory and IFC guideline air emissions limits. Process and sanitary wastewater from on site operations is pretreated and then discharged to the Patalganga Rasainy Industries Association (PRIA) common effluent treatment plant. Effluent from the treatment works will comply with MPCB wastewater discharge limits for discharge to surface waters. Solid wastes from refinery operations include 250 metric tons of coal ash, 700 metric tons of bentonite filtering medium (bleaching earth), oil sludge and spent nickel catalyst. Coal ash will be sold for brick manufacturing and used for land fill; spent bleaching earth is to be sold to brick manufacturers as fuel for kilns, spent nickel catalyst will be sold to recycling agencies, and oil sludge will be sold as a raw material for soap manufacturing. The facility has been designed to operate with the objective of achieving Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification.
- Soybean Crushing and Oil Refining Facility at Nagpur
Ruchi Soya purchased the 40 acre site, which was formerly used for agriculture, from private owners in a willing buyer, willing seller relationship. This refinery is also highly automated and incorporates all modern equipment. Water supply for the refinery will be provided by ground water wells and treated in on-site demineralization and reverse osmosis plants. Electrical power will be supplied by partially from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board grid and partially by diesel engine driven electrical generators. Emissions from the boiler will comply with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) regulatory and IFC guideline air emissions limits. Process and sanitary wastewater from on site operations is treated in the on-site effluent treatment plant. Treated effluent will be recycled and used for the boiler, general plant uses, and landscaping. Solid wastes from refinery operations include 20 metric tons/day of coal ash, 5 metric tons/day of bentonite filtering medium (bleaching earth), oil sludge and spent nickel catalyst. Coal ash will be sold for brick manufacturing and used for land fill; spent bleaching earth is to be sold to brick manufacturers as fuel for kilns, spent nickel catalyst will be sold to recycling agencies, and oil sludge will be sold as raw materials for soap and brick manufacturing operations. The facility has also been designed to operate with the objective of achieving Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification.
- Mangalore Refinery
Ruchi Soya’s refinery at Mangalore has been in operation for roughly three years. The 20 acre site was purchased from an agency of Karnataka state government in a willing buyer, willing seller transaction. The Mangalore plant incorporates newer generation equipment. The facility was designed and built to ease some of the operations and process flow difficulties in the Chennai plant and to take advantage of accumulated plant design knowledge. The Karnataka Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has granted authority to construct and to operate based upon demonstrated operation of the facility in accordance with the approved design. Raw water is supplied by on site ground water wells and the municipality and these sources are treated and demineralized on site for internal uses. Electric power is self-generated by diesel engine-driven generators. Air emissions from the generators comply with IFC guideline limits. A coal fired boiler generates steam. The fluidized bed combustor allows greater process control for combustion of low calorific value, high ash Indian coal. The unit currently complies with NO2 and SO2 limits of the Karnataka Pollution Control Board (PCB) and with IFC guideline limits. Particulate emissions are slightly higher than IFC limits. Thus, the fluidized bed combustor will be adjusted to bring particulate emissions into compliance with IFC guideline limits. Wastewater is collected and treated in a batch process then utilized for in plant and landscape watering purposes with no surface water discharge. Occupational health and safety, quality and environmental policies are written and there is an occupational health and safety manager assigned. Container labeling for hazardous materials (e.g. acids) in smaller quantities will be improved to comply with IFC guidelines. Solid wastes consist of coal ash, clay filtering media, oil sludge, and nickel catalyst. Ash, bentonite filtrates and oil sludge are sold to brick manufacturers. Nickel catalyst is sold to recyclers.
- Chennai Refinery
The operating facility at Chennai is, after Indore, the oldest of the Ruchi refineries. It has obtained and maintained permits to establish and to operate the project from the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and other requisite permits. Water is supplied from on site ground water wells and demineralized and softened for internal purposes. The refinery depends upon the electrical grid for its energy and only operates generators when needed because of power outages. A coal and rice hull fired boiler provides heat and process steam for the operation. Air emissions from the boiler comply with TNPCB and IFC guidelines for NO2 and SO2. Particulate emissions from coal-fired boilers comply with Tamilnadu pollution control board (TNPCB) limits on particulate of <150 mg/Nm3 however exceed IFC guideline limits. Combustors must be adjusted to bring the facility into compliance with IFC guideline limits. The wastewater treatment plant adequately treats facility wastewater. A reverse osmosis unit is under construction that will further refine treated effluent and then the facility will recycle it for the boiler and other non-food uses. This installation has come about in response to water shortages. Housekeeping and the management of solid waste need improvement. Solid wastes are the same that are generated at other refineries but are collectively placed into an accumulation area without obvious organization for removal and sale of byproducts. Collected wastes will be stored in containers for removal for offsite uses. Operations areas will benefit from a spilled oil cleanup program and institution of efforts to prevent spills and to eradicate the potential for associated accidents. Occupational health needs attention as accident prone areas exist in several working areas (e.g. unprotected openings in the floors with no railings, slippery floors due to oil spills, etc.). Additionally, continuous cleaning to remove accumulated oil in all areas is needed.
- Indore Crusher and Refinery.
The original plant facilities were established in 1992 then expanded in 1995 and 2002. Current operations include solvent extraction, oil refining, production of edible oils and fats, and byproducts including lecithin and acid oil. The property was obtained from a private owner in a willing buyer, willing seller relationship. The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) grants authority to operate the facility based upon the facility’s demonstrated compliance with permit conditions and in accordance with the approved design. Water supply is provided by a group of 10 ground water wells. Raw water is treated by reverse osmosis for the steam boiler and demineralized for other purposes. High ash Indian coal is combusted for heat and steam and all boilers and stacks discharge to an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) unit. Other air emissions comply with MPPCB regulatory and IFC guideline limits. Process effluent is treated in a wastewater plant and treated effluent is utilized in land application for a plantation of poplar trees. Existing plans include construction of an RO facility for further treatment of wastewater treatment plant effluent to make boiler and cooling tower water and thus reduce pressure on the ground water aquifers. The facility uses electric grid power but is evaluating a cogeneration project for the future that could be as high as 4MW. Solid wastes including coal ash, filtering media and others typical of wastes generated at other refineries are stored in hoppers for collection and transport offsite by brick makers, soap manufacturers, and recyclers. The facility will benefit from improved housekeeping and improvements in hazardous materials storage, transfer and utilization.
- Haldia Refinery
Ruchi Soya’s refinery at Haldia is presently under construction, and is adjacent to another RSIL facility (MP Glychem) that RSIL is in the process of acquiring. Both facilities are expected to share some common infrastructure, such as steam generation and wastewater treatment plant. The 11 acre site is leased from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and is located within an industrial park. The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has granted authority to construct and to operate based upon demonstrated operation of the facility in accordance with the approved design. High ash Indian coal is combusted for heat and steam and all boilers and stacks discharge to an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) unit. Wastewater will be collected and treated before being reused for in plant and landscape watering purposes. Provision exists for discharge of wastewater to a nearby canal. Occupational health and safety, quality and environmental policies are written and there is an occupational health and safety manager assigned. Solid wastes will consist of coal ash, clay filtering media, oil sludge, and nickel catalyst. Ash, bentonite filtrates and oil sludge are sold to incense stick and /or brick manufacturers. Emissions from the facility are expected to be in compliance with West Bengal regulatory requirements and IFC guidelines.
- Occupational health and safety
All existing refineries have obtained and maintain licenses to operate the refineries from the Industrial Health and Safety Department of the respective state government. New acquisitions will also obtain necessary licenses prior to commencing operations. The Indore engineering management department provides guidance to and inspections of the other facilities as well as input training programs and other administrative activities and systems. However, on-site inspections in all of the operations show that unsafe operating environments, lapses in physical security to prevent accidents, a general need for improved cleanliness and housekeeping (especially in the cleanup of oil residues and oil spills), and waste management practices need improvement. Ruchi will conduct occupational health and safety audits of existing operations to identify the gaps between the requirements of a systematic occupational health and safety program as defined in IFC guideline and existing operations. Identified shortcomings in implementation of systematic management, site management, employee awareness and training will be identified and rectified in accordance with the attached corrective action plan.
- Systematic management of quality, food safety and environmental affairs.
Ruchi has a number of distributed systems and management mandated activities in place that are used to assure quality, consistency, food safety, and environmental compliance in manufacturing operations. It has conducted a number of needs assessments to define the steps that are required to achieve a more consistent, systematic approach in management and quality assurance. The current size of edible oils and associated food manufacturing operations is such that systematic management is required and will benefit the company. Accordingly, as described in the attached corrective action plan, the company will perform needs assessments and take the steps required to implement certifiable management systems.
- Assessment and correction of compliance shortcomings of existing facilities and future acquisitions.
Ruchi will conduct an audit, in accordance with the attached corrective action plan, to assess management practices in quality, occupational health and safety, food safety systems and practices (e.g. HACCP orientation and processing) in food product packaging, facility cleaning, and waste management and discharges to the environment (air, water, storm water) for new acquisitions. The Indore facility has been HACCP certified, and experience gathered from this process will be used to upgrade operations at existing facilities as well as new acquisitions.
