SWEET ECONOMY FOR PENINSULAR INDIA

K. Periasamy M. Tech (Chem. Engg.) CHENNAI 600 096. INTRODUCTION

A.

Sugarcane belongs to the Grass family and its botanical name is S.officinarum. It is a native crop of Indian Sub Continent. Apart from Sugar, the main product of Sugarcane, there are several by-products like Sugarcane Leaves, Begasse, Molasses, Press Mud, etc. Also, there are co-products like Soya / Maize / Peanuts, etc which can be intercropped with Sugarcane. The By-products and co-products in turn yield many other products like Ethanol, Paper / Power, Soya Oil, Soya Meal, Cattle, Manure, etc. India being a tropical Country with sunshine throughout the year, the climatic conditions are apt for the growth of the crop. Peninsular India covering Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra, Maharastra and Orissa being closer to the Equator is naturally suited for extensive cultivation of Sugarcane. In this Article a detailed analysis of Sugarcane economy for India and the Peninsular India in particular has been made. B. SUGARCANE A WONDER CROP Any vegetation on this Planet is grown through a biological process called Photosynthesis. In this process the plants take Water from Soil and Carbon DiOxide from Air and produce simple Glucose molecules and complex Protein and Lignin molecules using the energy received from Solar radiation. the CO2 and H2O using Solar energy as per the following equation: Chlorophyll 6H2O + 6CO2 + Energy C6 H12O6 + 6 O2 [Glucose] [Oxygen] [From Soil] [From Air] [From Sunlight] The Chlorophylls present in the leaves of Plants facilitate the removal of Oxygen from

Two Glucose molecules formed above join together and form Sucrose (Sugar). Several Sucrose molecules undergo linear polymerization to form long molecular chains called Cellulose and Hemicellulose. Parallely These are called Carbohydrates. another reaction takes place between CO2 and H2O producing

aromatic molecules (e.g. Benzene, Phenol, etc.). These molecules undergo a complex three dimensional polymerization process comprising of Phenyl groups and this compound is called Lignin. During the three dimensional polymerization process, the Lignin molecules grow around the linear cellulose molecules making them bundles. These bundles are the cellulosic fibers which we see in plants. Sugarcane is part of a grass family which is known for its high cellulosic content and lower lignin content compared to other plants, like Trees, Wheat, Rice, Pulses, etc. Among the various Grasses, Sugarcane is unique in many ways. Due to its porous stem with lesser lignin, it is able to take in large volumes of water along with dissolved nutrients (like Potassium, Nitrogen, Iron, Phosphorous, etc.) which are required by the leaves for Photosynthesis. Also, it uses C 4 route for Photosynthesis as against C 3 route by most other plants. That is, the starting or the nucleate molecule has 4 Carbon atoms as against 3 in other plants. This makes Sugarcane as one of the most effective Photosynthesizers in the world. It is able to convert 2% of the incident sunlight energy into chemical energy and store it as Bio-mass. By this process the Sugarcane gets back the Carbon and Hydrogen which are released into atmosphere as CO2 and H2O during the burning of fossil fuels like Coal and Petroleum Products. This process is called Carbon fixation. The annual Carbon fixation rate of Sugarcane is distinctly higher at 100 200 Tons / Hectare compared to 15 25 Tons for Paddy & Wheat and 5 30 Tons for Trees. The Carbon fixation rate in Sugarcane increases with increase in sunlight intensity and hence Sugarcane cultivation is the most suited for regions closer to Equator (South India, Brazil, Cuba, etc.). As per Agro-Biological

calculations, considering 50% use of Solar radiation and 30% Transpirations loss, the theoretical yield potential of Sugarcane is 600 Tons / Hectare. In Maharashtra some farmers have reported yields as high as 350 Tons / Hectare! As explained earlier, the plants produce both Carbohydrates and Proteins. Various plants store the Carbohydrates and Proteins in various proportions [1]. Sugarcane produces preferentially Carbohydrates and it stores all the Carbohydrates in its stem and leaves only. Almost all Proteins produced are present in its roots only. The speciality of Sugarcane, apart from its higher Carbon fixation rate is that, it retains almost 15% of the Photosynthesized products in the form of Sucrose (12%) and Glucose / Fructose (3%) which have better utility value for human beings compared to the polymerized Carbohydrates. The combined Sucrose / Glucose / Fructose content varies from 10% to 15% depending upon the agro climatic conditions. C. SUGAR COMPLEX Sugarcane with such high intensity of Biomass generation and higher proportion of products useful for human living (Sugar for body energy and Bio-mass for comfort energy) offers tremendous scope for building societies around it, like the historical evolution of civilizations around the River Valleys. This is more suited for regions with high solar radiation and reasonable level of yearly rainfall (Minimum 1000 mm) or adequate irrigation system. Brazil has set a classical example of setting up such societies in pockets of Amazon Valley. Sugarcane is a simple crop with just two products One, Sugar (15%) and the other, Bio-mass (35%). The rest is Water. Both the products are usable with very little processing. The By-products of these main products are again useful in many ways.

Also, since Sugarcane is a crop with a bit longer life cycle (10 12 months) compared to other crops like Paddy, Wheat, etc. (4 6 months), Sugarcane fields offer lot of scope for intercropping with other short duration crops. Typical intercrops could be Soya beans, Maize, Onion, Sesame, Potato, Peanuts, Beans, etc. Sugarcane needs to have lot of Nitrogen and other micronutrients like Phosphorous, Magnesium, Potassium, etc. [2] for its fast growth, right from its planting. This is generally provided by the addition of Fertilizers like Urea, Complex Fertilizer (N:P:K) and farm manure. The Fertilizer addition in the later phase can be substantially reduced if we do intercropping of short duration crops which fix lot of Nitrogen in the roots. Crops like Peanuts and Soya accumulate a good proportion of the Protein synthesized by them in their roots. Hence, if these crops are grown in the initial phase of Sugarcane growth and their roots are left in the field after harvesting, they provide the Nitrogen requirement during the active growth phase of Sugarcane. Soya bean as an intercrop offers another advantage of higher biomass generation in its leaves (~3 tons per hectare) in addition to providing Nitrogen to Sugarcane. The Soya leaves dry out and drop in the field as soon as the crop is ready for harvesting. Soya beans with very high Protein content (35 40%) and Oil content (15 22%) compensate the absence of these two important ingredients in Sugarcane. Soya beans yield will be about 0.3 to 0.5 Ton per hectare of intercropping. Intercropping of Soya also offers several other advantages like reduction in weeds growth, better aeration of soil, employment opportunities during initial growth phase of Sugarcane, etc. In order to support both the crops, we have to add enough manure in the initial phase. Otherwise, Sugarcane yield may suffer. The combination of Sugarcane and Soya can lead to a Sugar Complex as depicted in Fig.1. A typical Sugar Complex can encompass an area of 15000 Hectares, preferably within a radius of about 25 KM. This area can support a Sugar Factory of 5000

Tons crushing per day (TCD) for about 200 days at an average Sugarcane yield of 70 Tons / Hectare [3]. This Sugar Factory will yield 500 Tons of Sugar and 250 Tons of Molasses per day. If both C Class and B-Heavy Class Molasses are diverted for Ethanol production, then the Sugar yield will be 450 Tons and Molasses yield will be 300 Tons. This 250 Tons of Molasses on fermentation and distillation in the Distillery set up in the Sugar Factory will yield 50,000 Liters per day of Ethanol. substitute about 35000 Litres of Petrol / Diesel [4]. The Spent Wash discharged from the Distilleries after the recovery of alcohol still contains a lot of Organic matter and all the residual nutrients of Sugarcane, including some Protein. The Spent Wash on anaerobic digestion yields enough Bio-Gas, to meet almost half of the fuel requirements of the Distillery itself. The byproduct chain does not end there! The slurry discharged from the Bio-gas Plant is an ideal feed for growing inland Fish. We can have large Fish ponds within the Sugar Factory itself. The Bagasse, which is the Cellulose and Lignin left out after the removal of cane juice, will be about 1750 Tons per day. This can be used either as a raw material for Paper Plants or burnt in Boilers to produce steam. As we do not have any major forests to feed the paper Mills it is better to use the Bagasse for manufacturing paper, as much as possible. For this, we must establish Paper Mills in the midst of about 10 Sugar Factories. Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited is one such Paper Mill. In fact, it is the first Paper Mill in the world to produce Newsprint, almost entirely from Bagasse. The Bagasse from those Sugar Factories which do not support any Paper Mill can be burnt in HP Boilers (~ 80 kg/cm2) to generate electricity. About 135 Units of electricity can be generated from the Bagasse obtained for each ton of Cane crushed. A 5000 TCD Plant can have a 35 MW Co-Gen Power Plant. Which means, we can get about 8,75,000 units of electricity per day from our Sugar This can

complex. The In-house power consumption of the Sugar Mill and the Power Plant will be about 2,75,000 units per day. This leaves a surplus of 6,00,000 units of renewable energy to be exported to the grid every day. Serious R&D efforts are on throughout the world for the conversion of Bagasse also to Ethanol by Hydrolysis and Fermentation. Once the process is commercialized, each ton of Dry Bagasse can yield 415 Litres of Ethanol. Since the Sugar Mill gets Cane only for about 7 months, the substantial investment made in the Power Plant will be lying idle for the rest of the 5 months. In order to solve this problem, the Boilers are made as multifuel Boilers. They will be using Coal or Wood or Biomass in the remaining 5 months and will be feeding about 7,00,000 units to the grid. The entire Sugar Complex supports 10,000 Peasant families, 2000 Employees of the Sugar Factory and Soya Factory. Additionally it provides employment opportunities for about 200 days for 10000 farm labourers. The total investment required for the Sugar Factory, Power Plant and the Distillery is Rs. 350 Crores. Which industry can provide such a large employment opportunity with such a low investment of Rs. 350 Crores? In fact, the comparison between the investment requirement of Ethanol Industry and the Petroleum industry is that, for each job created, Ethanol industry needs just 1/20th of that required for the Petroleum Industry! We can have a Soya processing facility with a capacity of 100 TPD in the Sugar Factory itself so that the infrastructure and utilities can be shared. This plant can run for only about 60 days based on the production from Sugar Cane intercropped Soya. We need to supplement this Plant with additional Soya grown as a main crop in the vicinity of Sugar complex. The 15000 hectares of Sugarcane cultivation occupies only about 8% of the land area in the 25 KM radius surrounding the Sugar Factory. About 5% of the balance area can be used for Soya cultivation as main crop for two seasons to feed the Soya Plant.

Table 1 Inputs required for a 5000 TCD Sugar Complex with 200 days of Operation S.No. ITEM 1. Land QTY. 15000 UNIT Remarks Hectares Within about 25 KM Radius with assured water supply for atleast 10 2. Irrigation Water 5 (Normal) TMC months About 2000 mm. hectare water is required. Out of this, about 1000 mm. hectare will be provided directly by Rainfall. Remaining 1000 mm has to be provided by irrigation in about 15 wettings of 75mm each [5]. With Drip irrigation this requirement is reduced to 500 mm hectare. 3. 4. 5. Fertilizer Drip Lines Labour (Agri.) 1 As reqd. 15,00,000 Ton Mandays Agricultural Labour is required mostly in the initial and last phases of the Sugarcane cultivation [6]. 6. Labour (Sugar 7. Factory) Seed (Setts) As reqd. Setts can be either 3 Bud or Single Bud. Sugarcane once planted can be allowed to grow for 2 or 3 cuttings. [7] 4,00,000 Mandays

There are many other Products like Sugarcane Leaves obtained from the field while mulching the cane, Press Mud obtained from the Juice Clarifier, etc. Each one has a perfect utility value within the Sugar Complex as shown in Fig.1. Table -1 summaries the Inputs required for a Typical 5000 TCD Sugar Complex. Table 2 summaries the important Products from a 5000 TCD Sugar complex.

Table - 2
Annual Products output from a 5000 TCD Sugar Complex S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. PRODUCT Sugar Alcohol Electricity Soya Oil Soya Meal QTY. 1,00,000 1,00,00,000 12,00,00,000 7500 12000 UNIT Tons Litres Units Tons Tons

Other By Products are: 1. Milk and Meat from cattle grown with Sugarcane Leaves. 2. Fish grown from Spent wash Bio-gas Plant Residue. D. SUGARCANE CULTIVATION IN INDIA Sugarcane is the second largest cash crop in India next only to Cotton. It is cultivated in about 50 Lakh hectares as against 530 Lakh hectares of food grain, accounting for just about 10% of total cultivated area. We produce about 3500 Lakh Tons of Sugarcane per year and the 566 Sugar factories produce 250 Lakh Tons of Sugar, 130 Lakh Tons of Molasses and 725 Tons of Bagasse. The small scale jaggery units produce about 90 Lakh Tons of Jaggery. Sugar factories in Southern India run for about seven months. Indian Sugar factories run on an average for six months only due to limited cane availability.

Table 3

State-wise Sugarcane Cultivation Area, Production & Yield (03-04) State Area (Thousand Hectares) Andhra Pradesh Bihar Gujarat Haryana Karnataka Maharashtra Punjab Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh All India 203 103 155 161 237 526 123 185 2030 4000 72 41 70 58 67 51 64 107 56 65 14616 4222 10850 9340 15800 26982 7870 19714 112754 260000 Yield (Tons / Hect) Production (Thousand Tons)

The byproduct Molasses is used to produce about 200 Crore Litres of Ethanol in the Distilleries. Even though the installed capacity of Distilleries is 290 Crore Litres, they are not fully utilized for want of Molasses. Bagasse, the other byproduct is burnt in Boilers to generate LP Steam. In all the new Sugar Factories and in most of the old large Private Sugar Factories HP Boilers have been installed. These produce steam at around 80 kg. cm2 pressure. The HP steam is expanded in steam turbines to generate about 1000 Crore units

of electricity from Sugar Factories in India. The LP steam coming out of the steam Turbines is used for evaporation of Sugarcane juice to get Sugar. Some part of the Bagasse is diverted for Newsprint and Paper production. About 50% of the Sugar Factories only have installed Co-Generation Power Plants. Most of the Co-operative Sugar Mills are yet to replace their LP Boilers to HP Boilers to enable them to go for Power Generation. Out of the total Co Gen potential of 7000 MW, only 2800 MW has been installed. Average Sugarcane yield in India at 65 Tons / Hectare is low, mainly because of very low yield levels in Northern States like UP, Bihar & Haryana. Maharashtra in Peninsular States is also low. In Tamil Nadu it is 110 Tons / Hectare. Brazils average yield is 90 Tons / Hectare. E. SUGARCANE CULTIVATION IN PENINSULAR INDIA

The Area under cultivation, Sugarcane yield, Sugar Recovery Percentage and Sugar production data for various States in India is given in Table 3. As can be seen from the above Table, the Sugarcane yield is much higher in Southern States compared to North Indian States. Especially, the Yield in Tamil Nadu is distinctly higher compared to other States. The main reason being the higher incidence of near uniform solar radiation throughout the year and better cultivation methods like Fertilizer application, Weeding, Mulching, etc. The Sugar Recovery percentage in Tamil Nadu is a bit low at 9% compared to 10% in other States due to higher Glucose content in the juice. Since this Glucose can anyway be converted into Ethanol, it is not a major factor. Hence, it makes economic sense to encourage Sugarcane cultivation in Peninsular States (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra, part of Maharastra and Orissa) and cultivation of Food-grains, Pulses, Oilseeds, etc. in Northern States (Punjab, U.P., Bihar, West Bengal, etc.). In States like Chattisgarh, MP, Rajasthan, AP, etc. where large tracts of wastelands are available, Jatropha

cultivation needs to be encouraged for Bio-diesel production, through Corporate farming. F. SWEET ECONOMY FOR PENINSULAR INDIA THE PROPOSAL Presently the Sugarcane acreage is about 10% of the total cultivated area in the Southern States. We can comfortably increase this percentage to 20%. The main bottleneck in increasing this percentage is the lack of irrigation facility consistently for 10 months. In these States, Rice is the staple food and hence it will compete for its share of water. For solving this problem, a judicial combination of the following strategies shall be adopted: 1. Inter linking the Peninsular Rivers thereby diverting the surplus waters that are discharged into sea by some of the large Rivers. Diversion potential of various River Basins are :Mahanathi (600 TMC), Godavari (540 TMC), Krishna (450 TMC) and Cauvery (50 TMC ). Of these, work has already been started for transferring Cauvery Water to Southern districts in Tamil Nadu. This transfer does not mean the transfer of water flowing from one River to another River. Only during excessive flow during monsoons there could be transfer of some water from one River to another River. In normal course these diversions will only enable the usage of surplus water on either side of the Canals that are to be built in the area between the two Rivers. It means that these Inter Basin Transfers need not necessarily mean transfer of water from one State to another. This misconception is one of the main impediments in Inter Linking of Rivers. Also, objecting the construction of Dams is purely a misguided action [8]. 2. Adopting Drip irrigation. This reduces water consumption by almost half and simultaneously increases the yield by atleast 50%. Yield improvements as high as 100% have been reported. The initial investment of about Rs. 60,000 per hectare can easily be recovered in

3 years.

The Government shall come farward to support the drip

irrigation system in a big way by offering 80% Depreciation Benefit for the Drip Irrigation Equipment Manufacturers under the Renewable Energy Scheme [9]. Recycled Plastics can be encouraged for making Drip Irrigation Systems. 3. Discouraging Rice cultivation by suitably increasing the price of Sugarcane viz-a-viz Rice till we have a Sugarcane acreage of 20%. The Rice shortage can be easily managed with the import of Wheat or Rice from Northern States, which have better yield compared to Southern States. 4. Encouraging Canal based irrigation in Inland Districts and Well based irrigation in Coastal Districts (about 15 KM away from coast), thereby providing opportunities for growing Sugarcane in coastal districts too. This has many other advantages like: a) Reduction in Power consumption of Agricultural Pump sets since the Water Table in coastal areas will be much higher compared to that of Inland. b) Reduction in River water discharge into the sea during monsoon months since there will be ground water recharge in the coastal areas. c) Crop damage due to floods in coastal areas can be totally avoided. d) Percolation loss to the sea can be minimized.

By increasing the Sugarcane cultivation area from 10% to 20% using the above methods, we will be increasing the area by 15 Lakh Hectares. Out of this 15 Lakh Hectares, about 5 Lakh Hectares shall be from TN and the balance from Karnataka, AP, Maharashtra and Orissa. This 15 Lakh Hectares of Sugarcane cultivation can be achieved by diverting 5 Lakh Hectares of Rice field and balance 10 Lakh Hectares by way of newly irrigated area using about 300 TMC of water saved by check dams. The additional Cane production will be 1200 Lakh Tons. After meeting the Cane

requirements for 7 months for the existing Sugar Mills at their existing capacities, the additional Cane shall be allotted on priority to those existing Mills which are ready to increase the crushing capacity to 5000 TCD. Balance Cane only shall be allotted for new Sugar Factories. With this approach, we will be able to effectively utilize the infrastructure already created. The projected output of various products from this 15 Lakh Hectares of Sugarcane cultivation is given below (Table 4).

Table 4 Annual output from Additional 15 Lakh Hectares of Sugarcane cultivation in Peninsular States
S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 PRODUCT Sugar Alcohol Electricity Soya Oil (*) Soya Meal (*) QTY. 120 1200 2100 0.60 2.4 TOTAL UNIT LAKH TONS CRORE LITRES CRORE UNITS LAKH TONS LAKH TONS VALUE, Rs. CRORES 24000 27000 5200 600 1200 58000

* This is based only on the Intercrop Soya. This does not include Soya produced as main crop. If this is included, another Rs. 9000 Crores revenue will be added. Apart from providing substantial employment opportunities, the Proposal offers an opportunity of saving about Rs. 3000 crore foreign exchange by way of Alcohol mixing in Petrol. The Planners of Southern States may analyse the above Proposal and implement it so that a Sweet Economy can herald in Peninsular India. &&&&&&&

[1] The Plants produce both Carbohydrates and Proteins. Though all Plants produce Carbohydrates to a greater proportion, some Plants store Carbohydrates with lesser Protein content (like Potato, Carrots, etc) and some other Plants store Carbohydrates with higher Protein content (like Soya, Cereals, Oil Seeds, etc.). Major part of the Carbohydrates produced in all Plants are stored in the Stems, Branches and Leaves with exceptions like Potato, Sweet Potato, etc. In the case of Sugarcane, the entire

Carbohydrate is stored in stem and leaves only, since it does not have any Seeds / Fruits / Root Products. [2] Nitrogen is part of the Chlorophyll Molecule. Chlorophyll is a three dimensional molecule with Magnesium at the centre (like Iron in Hemoglobin) surrounded by 4 Nitrogen atoms, which in turn are compounded with several Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen Atoms. Potassium plays the role of a transport carrier transferring the water and other nutrients upward to the Leaves and sending back the Carbohydrates generated in the Leaves to the stem. As the Cane grows taller and taller more and more Potassium is required for the Cane growth. [3] The average Sugar Factory capacity in Brazil is 10000 TCD compared to 3500 TCD in India. Larger capacities offer multiple advantages in terms of better utilization of infrastructure and manpower. We need to increase all the existing Sugar Plants to atleast 5000 TCD, especially in South India. The average yield in Tamil Nadu is 110 Tons / Hectare compared to 65 Tons of Indian average and 90 Tons of Brazilian average. Bihar has an abysmally low yield of 40 Tons. [4] Ethanol has a Calorific Value of 27 MJ / Kg compared to 44 MJ / Kg of Petrol. Ethanol can be mixed with Petrol and Diesel. In India only 10% Ethanol is mixed with Petrol as against 20% in China, and almost 100% in Brazil. Ethanol has an Octane Number of 120 as against 87 to 98 for Petrol. Due to this, air pollution is substantially reduced in Ethanol mixed fuels. Also, it partially compensates for the lower calorific value.

[5] As against 2000 mm water requirement (i.e. about 3,50,000 Cu.Ft. per Hectare) for Sugarcane, Paddy requires 1100 mm (1,92,000 Cu.Ft.) per crop. Since Paddy is grown twice in 10 months, the water consumption for 2 crops of Paddy works out to 3,84,000 Cu.Ft. which is actually slightly higher than Sugarcane. Two crops of Paddy produce about 10 Tons of Paddy and about 20 Tons of Biomass. Sugarcane yields 7 Tons of Sugar, 3 Tons of Molasses and 30 Tons of Biomass. 1 TMC (Thousand Million

Cubic feet) can irrigate about 3000 Hectares of Sugarcane or Paddy (2 Crops). Drip irrigation in Sugarcane reduces water consumption by about 50%. Pit type Sugarcane cultivation is most suited for Drip irrigation. It also increases the intercropping scope. Field trials have shown that Sugarcane yield with fertifigation (addition of nutrients directly through drip irrigation water) can easily be doubled (~ 150 Tons / Hectare). Wherever Well based irrigation is used it saves about 1000 units of electric Power as well. [6] The Manpower requirement for Sugarcane cultivation has two components. One is the regular maintenance requirement of the field, like Watering, Minor Weeding, Disease control, etc. which is taken care of by the field owners themselves. This is estimated to be about 150 Man days per hectare. The second part is the periodic bulk manpower requirement like Tilling, Seeding, Weeding, Detrashing, Propping and Sugarcane cutting. All these operations call for a total manpower of 150 Mandays / Hectare. Thus the Total Mandays required per hectare is about 300. [7] The Seed called Setts requirement for 3 Bud Sett is about 10 Ton / Hectare and for single Bud it is about 3 Tons / Hectare. Three Bud Sett is preferred. Sugarcane is cut leaving the root. Hence, they can re-grow for next season. Like this, it can be allowed for 2 or 3 seasons called Ratoons apart from the Original Plant. Beyond 3 cuts, the yield will drop due to water flow obstructions in the root system, Soil depletion, changes in root metabolism, etc. [8] Human civilisations have always depended upon River waters for their livelihood and hence they lived in River Basins. As the population grew, people had to live away from River Basins also. These people also need water and food. This can be provided only if we can stop the excess waters that are discharged by various Rivers into the Sea both during monsoon season and off-season. This can be done by construction of Dams / Barrages / Check Dams or whatever method suits as per the Topography and Techno Economic assessment. There is no point in crying foul citing impractical environmental reasons. If new Dams are not to be built, then it is all the more important that no new babies are allowed to be borne, in the first place.

[9] Solar photovoltaic cell based Power Plants are given Rs.12 per unit of power fed into the grid! If, we take average cost of Power purchase Price from other sources as Rs. 2.50 per unit, the cost of Solar photovoltaic cell based power works out to a whopping Rs. 14.50 per unit! For Wind Mills which have a meager Plant Load Factor of just 15% to 20%, we give 80% Depreciation benefit and encourage it. But for a reasonably viable and meaningful Co-Generation Power Plant, the Government is not ready to offer any supports like Soft Loans, Accelerated Depreciation Benefit, assured coal link for the offseason period, etc.

Table 1 Inputs required for a 5000 TCD Sugar Complex with 200 days of Operation S.No. ITEM 1. Land QTY. 15000 UNIT Remarks Hectares Within about 25 KM Radius with assured water supply for atleast 10 2. Irrigation Water 5 TMC months About 2000 mm. hectare water is

(Normal)

required. Out of this, about 1000 mm. hectare will be provided directly by Rainfall. Remaining 1000 mm has to be provided by irrigation in about 15 wettings of 75mm each [5]. With Drip irrigation this requirement is reduced to 500 mm hectare.

3. 4. 5.

Fertilizer Drip Lines Labour (Agri.)

1 As reqd. 15,00,000

Ton Mandays Agricultural Labour is required mostly in the initial and last phases of the Sugarcane cultivation [6].

6.

Labour (Sugar Factory) Seed (Setts)

4,00,000

Mandays

7.

As reqd.

Setts can be either 3 Bud or Single Bud. Sugarcane once planted can be allowed to grow for 2 or 3 cuttings. [7]