Give a brief description of sugar industry with special reference to its raw material, its nature, location of sugar mills and place in the world.
(1) Raw material : The raw material, i.e., sugarcane, is bulky and in haulage, its sucrose content reduces. It is weight losing and perishable. (2) Nature : This industry is seasonal in nature and, therefore, it is ideally suited to the cooperative sector because it needs large manual labour in various processes of cultivation and production of sugar and other products that can be provided by the cooperatives. (3) Location of sugar mills : There are about 460 sugar mills which are located in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Sixty per cent mills are in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In recent years there has been a tendency for the sugar mills to shift and concentrate in the southern and western states due to following reasons : The sugarcane produced in the southern and western states has a higher sucrose content. The cooler climate also ensures a longer crushing season. The industry is ideally suited to the cooperative sector and this sector has been more successful in these states. Place in the world : India stands second as a producer of sugar. It, however, occupies the first place in the production of gurand The challenges before the sugar industry are its seasonal nature, old and inefficient methods of production, transport delay in reaching sugarcane to factories, need to maximise the use of baggase.
