Shree Renuka Sugars foresees sunny outlook on sugar and bioenergy industries

Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports

There is no room for waste within Shree Renuka Sugars, India’s leading sugar manufacturer and among the largest sugar producers and refiners worldwide. Reinventing paradigms through integrated sugar cane mills that produce renewable energy and innovative branding solutions that promote sustainability, Shree Renuka Sugars is upbeat about the future as it pursues global synergies for expansion.

“Our business focuses on sustainable models,” said Atul Chaturvedi, executive chairman. “Sugar is one commodity where everything gets used, and we ensure that we do not waste any of our materials, bio-products and resources.”

Starting with one sugar mill in 1998, Shree Renuka Sugars now operates seven mills across India that integrate ethanol and power cogeneration capacities and two port-based sugar refineries. Ethanol comes from the by-products molasses and cane juice, and it is used in the potable alcohol and biofuel industries. It is also blended with petrol. The company also produces bioenergy from burning bagasse, another sugar cane by-product, and uses this to power the company’s plants while returning surplus energy to the country’s state grids. Part of its strategy is also to engage farmers and the surrounding communities near its mills and plantations.

“The sugar cane farmer is one of the biggest pillars of the sugar industry,” Chaturvedi said. “We work with non-governmental organisations to educate the cane farmer and help them adopt better farm practices that improve profitability. We also provide bio-fertilisers, which come from another organic by-product called sugar cane press mud.”