Sugar Industry 1

INTRODUCTION
Sugar industry is one of the most important agro-based industries in India and ishighly responsible for creating significant impact on rural economy in particular andcountry's economy in general. Sugar industry ranks second amongst major agro-basedindustries in India. As per the Government of India's recent liberalised policy announcedon 12th December, 1986 for licensing of additional capacity for sugar industries during 7thfive-year plan, there will be only one sugar mill in a circular area of 40 sq km. Also thenew sugar mill is allowed with an installation capacity of 2500 TCD (Tonne Sugar Cane
crushed per day) as against the earlier capacity norms of 1250 TCD. Similarly, theexisting sugar mills with sugar cane capacity of about 3500 TCD can crush sugar cane tothe tune of 5000 TCD with a condition imposed that additional requirement of sugar canebe acquired through increased productivity and not by expansion of area for growingsugar cane. Cane sugar is the name given to sucrose, a disaccharide produced from thesugarcane plant and from the sugar beet. The refined sugars from the two sources are
practically indistinguishable and command the same price in competitive markets. However, since they come from different plants, the trace constituents are different andcan be used to distinguish the two sugars. One effect of the difference is the odor in thepackage head space, from which experienced sugar workers can identify the source. In the production scheme for cane sugar, the cane cannot be stored for more thana few hours after it is cut because microbiological action immediately begins to degradethe sucrose. This means that the sugar mills must be located in the cane fields. The rawsugar produced in the mills is item of international commerce. Able to be stored foryears, it is handled as raw material - shipped at the lowest rates directly in the holds ofships or in dump trucks or railroad cars and pushed around by bulldozers. Because it isnot...