Birla Sugar Lal Bazar, Kolkata, West Bengal

Molasses, meaning honey like, is a thick dark syrup that is a by-product of sugar refining through repeated crystallization of sugar syrup obtained by crushing sugar cane. Molasses is sold both for human consumption, to be used in baking and in the brewing of ale, as also for industrial use. In India Molasses is used mainly in manufacture of industrial potable alcohol, yeast and cattle feed. Alcohol in turn is used to produce ethanol, rectified spirit and various value added chemicals. Ethanol is consumed by chemical industry and is also used in blending with petroleum to produce Ethanol Blended Petroleum (EBP). The yield of molasses per ton of sugar cane crushed varies in the range of 4.5% and 5%. Molasses and industrial alcohol-based industries were decontrolled in 1993 and are now being controlled by respective state government policies. Nearly 90% of molasses produced is consumed by industrial alcohol manufacturers and remaining 10% for various other uses like potable liquor.

Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice and is a by product generated in the process of manufacture of sugar. It can either be sold or be captively consumed for generation of steam. It is currently used as a biofuel and in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials. The bagasse produced in a sugar factory is however used for generation of steam which in turn is used as a fuel source and the surplus generation is exported to the power grids of state governments.

Through organic and inorganic growth, the Company has cautiously but consistently grown from a single unit sugar manufacturing company to a company having four sugar manufacturing units with an aggregate crushing capacity of about 28,700 tonnes of sugarcane per day, two distilleries having capacity to produce 160 kilo litre per day (KLPD) of industrial alcoholethanol, three Co-generation Power Plants with a total capacity of 60 MW Power, one Bio-Compost plant producing organic fertilizer and one food and fruit processing unit. After meeting its captive energy needs, OSML has a surplus of around 30 MW which it supplies to the UP and Bihar State grids -- and adds -- 35 MW to the total power generated by OSML. It is the flagship company of the group and employs --- persons directly and --- persons indirectly.

In India Ethanol, a type of industrial alcohol, is produced directly from Molasses. The Government offers subsidized loans to sugar mills for setting up an ethanol producing unit, covering 40% of the project cost thus encouraging higher Ethanol production. Since sugarcane production in India is cyclical, ethanol production also varies, thus not assuring the optimum supply levels needed to meet the demand at a given time. Lower sugar molasses availability and consequent higher molasses prices affect cost of production of ethanol, thereby disrupting ethanol supply for the blending programme at pre-negotiated fixed level. Increased consumption of Ethanol for these uses is expected to harden the prices of Ethanol and growth of this by-product of sugar in a healthy and profitable manner.

Spent wash, an effluent generated from processed molasses is used with press mud for the production of organic fertilizer. The group has installed Bio Compost Plants at Shyamabad near Seohara, Narkatiaganj and Hargaon to produce organic fertilizer which is marketed under the brand name "Uttam Jaivik Khad", and "Oudh Shakti Jaivik Khad".

Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice and is a by product generated in the process of manufacture of sugar. It can either be sold or be captively consumed for generation of steam. It is currently used as a biofuel and in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials. The bagasse produced in a sugar factory is however used for generation of steam which in turn is used as a fuel source and the surplus generation is exported to the power grids of state governments.