Can sugar stocks get any sweeter?

123.60 10.72 Bannari Amman Sugars79.75-55.337.67-16.45513.9512.90 * Includes figures for subsidiaries  Bajaj Hindusthan
Bajaj Hindusthan (BHL) is engaged in the manufacture of sugar and molasses for the production of industrial alcohol.  BHL operates two plants at Golagokarannath and Palia Kalan, both in Lakhimpur Kheri district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, with cane crushing capacities of 13,000 tonnes and 11,000 tonnes per day (tcd) respectively.  The company is making a foray in to the western part of the state, with plans to establish four new units of 7,000 tcd each in Kinnouni (Meerut), Thanabhawan (Muzaffarnagar), Bilai (Bijnor) and Saharanpur.  The four greenfield units, involving an estimated outlay of Rs 550 crore, would be 'pure' sugar plants. The projects are expected to commence commercial production in October, 2005.  Balrampur Chini Mills
The company is one of the largest and most efficient sugar producers in the country. It has an integrated sugar facility with a distillery for ethanol production and a co-generation facility for power.  This makes Balrampur Chini slightly less vulnerable to the cyclical nature of the sugar industry. The company has four sugar factories located in eastern Uttar Pradesh, having an aggregate sugarcane crushing capacity of 29,000 tcd.  It commissioned a 40 kl per day (klpd) ethanol plant at its Balrampur unit in 2002-03 followed by a 60 klpd ethanol plant at Babhnan in January, 2004. The company's entire production of ethanol is secured by way of stable long-term contracts with oil majors like IOL, HPCL, BPCL and IBP.  Balrampur's two co-generation plants - at Balrampur and Haidergarh - possess a combined capacity 39.8 mw. These plants have not only serviced the company's complete power requirements, helping it save power costs, but have generated an income of Rs 47.37 crore in 2003-04.  EID Parry
EID Parry is the flagship company of the Rs 5,000 crore Murugappa group and one of the largest sugar producers in southern India.  It derives about 65 per cent of its revenues from sugar and the rest comes from bio-products and sanitaryware products. EID accounts for 20 per cent of the sugar production in Tamil Nadu.  It has four plants in the state and the combined crushing capacity of all the four plants is 13,800 metric tcd. Its plant at Nellikuppam has an integrated sugar complex with a crushing capacity of 5,000 tcd.  It is one of the few integrated sugar factories in the country producing co-generated power (24.5 megawatt), ethanol (45 klpd) and organic manure products.  At Pugalur, the company is setting up a 22 mw co-generation power plant, which will be partly funded by Tamil Nadu Newsprint. The ongoing deregulation process in the fertiliser industry is also expected to boost EID's performance on a consolidated basis.  Bannari Amman Sugars
Bannari Amman is a part of the Bannari Amman group in southern India and is engaged in a wide spectrum of manufacturing, trading, distribution and financing activities.  It is an integrated sugar player having a distillery as well as a co-generation plant. Bannari Amman Sugars has two units with a combined capacity of 7500 tcd.  The distillery division produces over 60,000 litres of industrial alcohol per day from molasses. The distillery has set up a biogas plant with the help of technical knowhow from France to provide an alternate source of energy.  The co-generation plant - with a capacity 36 mw - exports the surplus power to the Karnataka State Electricity Board's grid. Another co-generation plant for generating 20 mw electricity has been installed with the surplus power being offered to the Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board.  Dhampur Sugar Mills
Dhampur Sugar is one of the largest sugar companies in the country. It was set up in 1933 with a crushing capacity of 300 tcd.  Today the company has five sugar mills in India and one in Nepal, having a total installed crushing capacity of 32,000 tcd. The company also undertakes production of chemicals, power and cardboard.