Introduction
India has been known as the original home of sugarcane and sugar. India is the largest producer and consumer of sugar in the world, with Maharashtra contributing over one-third of country’s sugar output.
Indians knew the art of making sugar since the fourth century. However the advent of modern sugar industry in India dates back to mid 1930's when a few vacuum pan units were established in the sub-tropical belts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Until the mid 50s, the sugar industry was almost wholly confined to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. After late fifties or early sixties the industry dispersed into Southern India, Western India and other parts of Northern India.
The sufficient and well distributed monsoon rains, rapid population growth and substantial increases in sugar production capacity have combined to make India the largest consumer and second largest producer of sugar in the world.

The Government has now decided to totally decontrol the sugar industry during 2002-03, subject to futures trading becoming fully operational.

Demand-Supply :

Demand:
Indians by nature have a sweet tooth and sugar is a prime requirement in every household. Almost 75% of the sugar available in the open market is consumed by bulk consumers like bakeries, candy makers, sweet makers and soft drink manufacturers. Khandsari sugar is less refined and is typically consumed by sweet makers. Gur, an unrefined form of lumpy brown sugar, is mostly consumed in rural areas, with some quantities illegally diverted for alcohol production.
A rising trend in usage of Sugar is visualized because of greater urbanization and rising standard of living in India. Industrial consumption for sugar is also growing rapidly particularly from the food processing sector and sugar based bulk consumers such as soft drink and ice cream manufacturers.
The per capita consumption of total sugar (sugar, gur & khandsari) in the country has been increasing at a phenomenal rate.

Supply:
The quantum of sugar produced by a mill is determined by the factors like daily crushing capacity, duration of crushing season and percentage of sugar recovery.
The crushing season in the country starts from October and reaches its peak in January before finally ending in March or April of the next year. But based on cane availability, the start of the crushing season may postponed by one to one and a half months in different states of the country. Example: In eastern UP crushing season starts only in November every year, about a month later than normal.
The period of November to March (150 days) is an ideal one for sugar recovery in general, more particularly in Bihar and Utter Pradesh. From April onwards, sugar recovery shows a downward trend and in June the percentage of sugar recovery comes down to lowest levels. The months of April, May and June are very hot in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab. This period, would thus, accentuate the drying of sucrose content and leads to a lesser recovery of sugar.
Indian sugar industry has grown horizontally primarily because of GOI policy to support small size sugar factories by excluding them from the requirement of supplying sugar at lower prices for the PDS.

The sugar production in the country fluctuates widely based on sugarcane availability in the country. S-30 grade sugar has the maximum production in the country constituting around 72% of the total production. The remaining 24% is of M-30 and the rest is from L-30 and the other different grades under 29 series.

Types of Sugar :

Baker’s Sugar:
Extra fine, fine grained sugar with uniform grain size, gives perfect shine and texture on baking. As its name suggests, it has been developed specially for the baking industry.
Barbados Rich brown sugar having a nutty, caramel flavor, natural moistness, and subtle molasses aroma. Nutritious substitute for table sugar.

Barley sugar:
Granulated sugar melted to 185 deg C. No unique flavor or color characteristics. If heated to 200 deg C, it caramelizes.
Brown sugar:
Light to dark brown sugar - with color & properties depending on inherent molasses content. Its natural moistness and deep, rich aroma makes it ideal for full-flavored recipes. 
Cane juice:
Juice of plant Saccharum officinarum i.e. sugar cane. Lightly chilled with a dash of lemon makes a very refreshing drink.

Candy sugar:
Produced by slow crystallization of a concentrated sugar solution, this sugar is commonly used in Belgium beers. It comes in several colors - light to dark. When added to beer, it thins out the high gravity beers and contributes color and, for the dark version, some residual caramel flavors. 

Castor sugar (or caster sugar):
Sugar with extremely fine grain size making it ideal for extra fine textured cakes and meringues, as well as for sweetening fruits and iced-drinks since it dissolves easily.

Chinese sugar:
Finely crystallized refined sugar.

Cinnamon sugar:
Lightly colored granulated sugar with added flavoring.

Coarse sugar:
Large crystals of granulated sugar.

Coffee sugar:
Large grained, sparkling, brown-colored sugar crystals specially developed to bring out the true flavor of coffee beans.

Invert sugar:
Equimolar mixture of glucose & fructose in liquid form. It absorbs moisture very fast, is about 25% sweeter than normal sugar, is highly soluble in water and alcohol, and caramelizes fast.

Demerara sugar:
Golden brown sugar crystals rolling with the rich aroma of tropical sugarcane molasses. Its distinctive flavor and crunchy texture makes it ideal for hot and cold beverages, sprinkling on cereals, or as a topping on cakes and cookies.

Sugar Industry in India :

Pre 1950

• First Modern Sugar Industry Established in Uttar Pradesh in 1903.
   

• By 1932, 32 Sugar Factories developed.

Growth of Sugar Industry: Post-1950

Sugar Export and Import:

Export
The difference in crushing period in India and other major producers/exporters like Brazil and Australia can be utilized to tap the export market in a big way. For the purpose of a comparison, the crushing season for different sugarcane producing countries vis-a-vis India is as given below.

Imports
The government controls import of sugar through import policy and custom duties based on a demand-supply mismatch in the country.

No Imports on Government account since November 1995.

Exports
The substantial increase in the volume of free international trade in sugar presents an excellent opportunity to the Indian sugar industry to embark on a regular plan for sugar exports.

Sugar Prices:
The crushing season in the country starts from October and reaches its peak in January before finally ending in March or April of the next year. During this period supply arrives in the market and resultantly prices starts falling.

Sugar prices in the country can be classified into two broad categories at the user end as free market prices and prices of sugar through public distribution system. The GOI announces PDS sugar prices based on levy sugar prices fixed by it and the subsidy to be provided through budgetary system.
The realization to sugar mills from government levy quota is called levy prices. Levy prices are fixed by the GOI based on SMP for the year. But usually levy prices are very low and fall below the cost of production. Therefore the producers are left with only free sale sugar quota to run the business profitably.Central Government fixes the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane for each sugar season under the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 for each sugar factory. SMP is fixed on the basis of the recommendations of the commission on Agricultural Costs & Prices ( CACP ).Some State Governments announce State Advised Prices (SAP) for sugarcane for their sugar factories.  SAPs are higher than SMP.  SAPs are not fixed on any scientific basis. SAPs are not statutorily binding.

Domestic Wholesale Sugar Price in 4 Metro cities (Prices Rs./Qntl.)

Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Economics Times.

Sugar prices are the lowest in India when compared to the leading sugar consuming countries in the world.

Information source www.indiainfoline.com & www.indiansugar.com
Datasource CMIE 
 

Power point(ppt) presentation of Sugar Click here

 

  TOP