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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – India's sugar industry has begun to pivot from a policy-driven survival mode towards a technology and innovation-led growth strategy, as automation and by-product valorisation emerged as central themes at the Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association's SugarNXT 2026 conclave that concluded Wednesday. The two-day conclave brought experts to advance process technology, automation, and digital solutions, including generative artificial intelligence. Most industry participants engaged, but remained sensitive to investment costs. 

 

Inaugurating the conclave, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra highlighted the structural inefficiencies in the sugar sector, noting gaps in process optimisation, data utilisation, and supply chain management. "Small inefficiencies at each stage cumulatively result in significant losses. Optimisation of these processes itself could result in the reduction of sugar losses up to 0.2-0.3 percent, consequently raising the sugar recovery," Chopra said Tuesday. 

 

Despite technological advances, performance across mills remains highly uneven due to poor process control, real-time monitoring, and data integration, Chopra said. "While large amounts of data are generated, they are often under-utilised. The absence of integrated digital systems limits predictive capabilities, delay decision making, and impacts overall operational efficiency", he added.

 

Chopra also highlighted the scale of inefficiencies spanning across the entire value chain in sugarcane management, harvesting practices, milling, crystallisation, fermentation, and distillation. According to him, the sector reels under variable sugarcane yields and uneven sugar recovery rates. 

 

"I believe cane should be crushed within 24 hours of harvesting to reduce the post-harvest deterioration by better planning at the field level using remote sensing technique, which we have been talking for a long time," he added. 

 

Along with operational reforms, ISMA leadership emphasised that the future of the sugar sector lies in building a circular economy around by-products such as molasses, bagasse, press mud, and converting waste into revenue sources. "As responsible stakeholders, we must lead from the front in reducing carbon emissions to energy-efficient systems, waste heat recovery, and integrated bioenergy solutions," ISMA President Niraj Shirgaokar said. 

 

"The ISMA SugarNXT Conclave 2026 represents a forward-looking platform designed to catalyse this transformation. It brings together industrial leaders, policy makers, innovators, and academia to collaborate, exchange ideas, and build actionable pathways for the future," he added. 

 

The conclave stood out for largely steering away from industry demands for favourable government policies such as higher sugar export quotas, ethanol allocations, or minimum support prices. Instead, the sessions focused on improving efficiency at a factory level. Discussions even moved beyond the sector's usual emphasis on demand-supply dynamics and market outlooks.  

 

The conclave showcased technological solutions aimed at addressing real industry problems, including AI-based cane-quality assessment, predictive maintenance of critical equipment, energy optimisation, process automation to data-driven decision support systems.

 

"The solutions presented in this hackathon were not only innovative but also practical and scalable. It's truly inspiring to witness young minds engaging so thoughtfully with real-world industry challenges and delivering impactful solutions," Shirgaokar said. The food secretary said such collaborations between industry, startups, research institutions, and domain experts are critical for closing India's productivity gap with other producers such as Brazil and Australia.

 

However, discussions during technical sessions revealed a cautious industry approach towards digitisation and AI-driven optimisation. Technology providers acknowledged that mills remain highly sensitive to huge investment costs. "We can deploy a pilot of digitalisation at a minimum cost and then run that pilot for some time and capture the financial benefits. And if it works, then we scale. If it doesn't work, we shut it down. That's what I meant by fast and nimble tests," Carlos Villa, business director of modular systems, Honeywell, said. End

 

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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