Aravana stock shortage likely as Sabarimala season begins in a week; plant upgrade incomplete

SABARIMALA: With just a week left for the Mandala pilgrimage season to begin, delays in upgrading the Aravana plant at Sannidhanam have raised concerns over the availability of reserve stocks. The Travancore Devaswom Board had planned to build a buffer stock of 75 lakh tins of Aravana before the season begins. However, the plant currently produces only 2.40 lakh tins a day, against the required daily output of 3.60 lakh tins.

Last year, despite having a buffer stock of 47 lakh tins, the temple faced a shortage during the pilgrimage season. At the time, the daily production stood at 2.50 lakh tins.

The plan was to increase production by installing six additional preparation pans, two cooling chambers and a boiler, along with the existing 23 preparation pans at the Aravana plant. The plant was shut down after the Chingam month poojas to carry out the expansion work. However, the work remains incomplete.

Although six new preparation pans powered by steam have been installed, only three of them are currently being used for Aravana production.

Packaging delays add to concerns

The packaging process is also likely to face delays due to the limited capacity of the existing machines.

• The plant has two semi-automatic packaging machines, installed in 1999 and 2018. The machine installed in 1999 originally had a capacity to pack 180 tins per minute. However, its output has dropped to 110 tins per minute due to ageing.
• The company had claimed that the machine installed in 2018 could pack 3.50 lakh tins a day. However, its capacity has also declined due to ageing and the failure to carry out timely maintenance.
• Both machines cannot be operated for more than 20 hours a day. The delay in packaging is also likely to affect the distribution of Aravana during the pilgrimage season.