Chennai, Sept. 13:

The domestic sugar industry, which is set to come under the purview of mandatory energy efficiency norms of the Government, has to work together to meet the standards, according to Gaurav Goel, Managing Director, Dhampur Sugar Mills.

Initial work on the standards to be set has started as the industry will come under the Perform, Achieve and Trade scheme of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

The industry will be identified as a ‘Designated Consumer’ and mandatory energy conservation norms will be set.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Power Ministry will monitor and set mill-specific standards.

Sugar mills, particularly in the North, have to make significant investments to gear themselves. There are wide variations in the condition of mills in various regions. For instance, efficient mills use about 23 kwhr of electricity for a tonne of cane but others could be using over 45 kwhr. But only about 30 of the 500 sugar mills probably come under the efficient category as of now. Primarily, the investment will have to be made in automation.

As an indication, Dhampur Sugar itself, which operates five mills, has one operating at about 35 kwhr, while the oldest guzzles about one-third more power.

The company will probably have to invest about Rs 5 crore to cut the surplus consumption. But this is a small fraction of the potential benefit.

Goel was addressing the inaugural session of Green Sugar Summit 2013, in Chennai on Friday, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre which is supporting the industry initiative.

K.K. Chakarvarti, Energy Economist, BEE, said nine sectors including cement and steel have been brought under the programme and these have managed to achieve international standards in efficiency.