After nearly six months on the road, negotiating narrow stretches, overhead electricity wires and overbridge obstructions, a giant reactor from Belgium that will be at the heart of India’s first integrated sugar-to-bioplastic plant reached its destination in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri late on Thursday night.

Carried on a 260-wheel trailer from Odisha’s Paradip Port, the cyclisation reactor arrived at Balrampur Chini Mills’ Kumbhi facility after a painstaking journey across four states and seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, covering nearly 1,300 km by road at an average of just 10-12 km a day, with the entire journey costing about Rs 15 crore. Its arrival marks a crucial step towards commissioning the company’s integrated polylactic acid (PLA) plant, which is expected to begin operations in November.

Sunil Kumar Yadav, Chief General Manager at the company’s Kumbhi unit, told The Indian Express that the company had been awaiting the machine for six months.…