Indian Sugar Mills Association, the industry body of private sugar mills, has adopted a new name, Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association, but will continue to use the short form ISMA.
Announcing the change in a statement on Thursday, ISMA also notified that Mandava Prabhakar Rao will be the new president of the association on completion of Aditya Jhunjhunwala’s tenure. Gautam Goel is the new vice president, ISMA said.
Rao, hailing from an agricultural family in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, is known as a leader of the domestic seeds industry. As head of Nuziveedu Seeds and president of the National Seed Association of India, he fought a long legal battle with global seed companies that led to the government finally capping the Bt cotton seed price for the first time in 2016 to regulate the trait or royalty fee charged by MNCs like the then Monsanto. Rao is the chairman of NSL group, which is into seeds, textiles, sugar, infrastructure and renewable power.
“Rao has made several contributions in the development of cotton, sugarcane, rice, corn and vegetable seeds that have laid the foundation for a new era of collaboration and partnerships between Indian and global MNCs, leading to industry growth and improvement of profitability to farmers,” ISMA said.
NSL Sugars has five units in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana, with a combined capacity of 40,000 tonnes crushed cane per day, co-generation of 150 MW power, and distilleries of 500 KLPD capacity.
Goel, who was ISMA president in 2012 representing Dhampur Sugar Mills, is now vice president and may succeed Rao after two years. He is the managing director of Dhampur Bio Organics (DBO), which was demerged from Dhampur Sugar Mills in April 2021. DBO owns and operates three sugar manufacturing units in Uttar Pradesh with a combined capacity of about 30,000 TCD. It also has a distillery with over 300 KLPD capacity and generates about 90 MW of renewable power.
At the recent annual general meeting of ISMA, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra highlighted the crucial role of the sugar industry in India’s energy transition and rural economy, and emphasised the need for sustainable practices and technological advancements to navigate the ever-evolving landscape.
On the re-branding by incorporating bio-energy in the name, ISMA termed it a forward-thinking initiative. “ISMA recognises the evolving landscape of the sugar industry and aims to proactively address the increasing significance of bio-energy in the country’s energy transition. With this transformation, it will work to enhance sugarcane yield and area in a sustainable way to meet the increased demand for sugar, ethanol and other by-products to ultimately benefit all stakeholders, the farmers, consumers and the industry,” the statement said.