Water from Malabar Cements' rock-blasting site to power liquor plant

IN A PIONEERING move, a Kerala government-owned liquor manufacturing unit is planning to use purified water from quarries to produce Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in its blending and bottling plant.

- SHYAM P V @Palakkad

The new plant is coming up at Malabar Distilleries in Menonpara, with wastewater from the quarries of the state-owned Malabar Cements in Walayar set to be a key resource.

Water extracted during rock-blasting operations for the production of raw materials at the Malabar Cements site is typically pumped out and discharged into the rivers nearby. It will now be purified and channeled into liquor production at the new government facility, in a strategic move to minimize waste and boost revenue.

Malabar Cements currently pumps out 50,000 to 115,000 liters of excess water daily from its open-cast limestone quarry—water that naturally accumulates during stone blasting and excavation.