Cogeneration in Indian Sugar Industry

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Cane industry is a large employment generator right from cultivation, harvesting, transportation to sugar processing in India. India has more than 500 sugar manufacturing units which manufacture sugar from sugarcane. In the past two decades after the introduction of cogeneration, most of the sugar units have opted for it and the installed capacity is 3221 MW. Plants established in recent times are all integrated complexes. The sugar units today are integrated plants which apart from manufacturing sugar, generate power and supply to the grid and also have distillery to produce ethyl alcohol. Karnataka too has 37 sugar units with installed capacity of 993 MW with ten units in the district of Belgaum. Sugar units have been set up in cooperative sector, by private sector as well as few set up in state public sector. The general trend is that the government established units and those setup in cooperative sector are not doing well and the ones managed by private sector are doing well and flourishing. This calls for study to analyses the reasons for the difference in performance which can lead way for better understanding of the cane industry. As this sector is now generating 5000 MW of power and supplying to the grid, the sector needs to be looked into properly as the power generated is ecofriendly and renewable in nature. Study of 45 research papers on sugar industry has been undertaken along with sharing the experiences of interaction with the officials of 5 sugar units in the district of Belgaum. The study can throw light on the policy implications as sustainable development demands new strategies, solutions and policy making approaches

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