Indian sugar industry can reduce dependence on petrochemicals

NEW DELHI, May 3 -- India sugar industry is soon likely to raise a demand with the government to allow it to supplement ethanol production and reduce nation's dependence on petrochemicals, said a sugar expert on Sunday.

"The sugar industry needs to be liberalized. The part of Indian industry liberated by the government of India has made a mark globally -- the IT and Telecom sectors. Sugar industry can also be a case of successful liberalization in India," Samir S. Somaiya, President of the Indian Sugar Mills Association said in an interview with Xinhua.

Last year, 10 percent ethanol blending to petrol was permitted and the affects are being studied, he said.

"The demands made by the industry 50 years ago have not seen any major policy initiative. We need to have a drastic relook at the sector and examine the way forward by liberalizing," he said.

Sugar experts like him feel that India's sugar industry has to keep upgrading to manufacture products better than the best in the world and for that, and the suppliers should be well acquainted with the technological advancements in this field.

About 930 carbon credit projects are resting in Indian carbon trade basket, while 160 to 180 of such projects are likely to be added every year.

"India has the capacity of earning a whooping 100 billion U.S. dollars by the trade of CERs (Certified Emission Reductions), while CERs worth 300 million U.S. dollars have been already sold globally by India. Given the scale of sugar enterprises in India, the industry should come up in a big way to encash the potential of CER trading," Somaiya said.

The sugar machinery exports have been showing a steady growth of 35 percent every year over the last five years.

On the domestic front, the Indian sugar industry has a turnover of 700 billion rupees (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) every year and contributes almost 22.5 billion rupees to central and state exchequer every year, he said.

"The industry has potential for CER trading, energy efficiency, exports and imports and reaching capacities. Therefore the industry should come up with a 20 to 25 years roadmap and get all the stakeholders subscribe to it. This will see active participation from the Industry and government to achieve greater global heights," said Somaiya.