Analysis of technical performance: A case study of cane sugar industry in Maharashtra

India is prominently an agrarian economy which is the second largest developing economy after China in the world. The 1991–92 reforms have brought in many changes paving the way for establishing many industries in private, public and cooperative sectors in the country. Many agro-based industries such as food processing, textile, cane sugar, dairy, etc. have been set up. Agriculture sector alone contributes a sum of 308 billion US dollars (i.e. 10.49%) as its share to the Indian GDP¹. Hence, agriculture and its allied activities play a key role in the Indian economy as 55 percent of our populace earns its bread and butter from agriculture. In fact, right from the first five year plan, the government of India has encouraged economic development through agro-based industries including the cane sugar industry. Thus, India has emerged as the second largest sugar producing country after Brazil in the world.

Maharashtra state has become a hub for many industries including cane sugar industry which is one of the fastest growing agro-based industries in the state. The industry has registered a record growth in terms of number of cane sugar factories, sugarcane and sugar production in the last decade. Industry provides employment opportunities to millions of people directly or indirectly throughout a year. Rural people depend much on this industry for their livelihood. The increased income has led to the improved standard of life of rural Maharashtra. However, the matter of great concern is that the cane sugar industry has not achieved the desired goals. The present study analyzes the technical performance of cane sugar industry with regard to seven industry benchmarks and six non-industry benchmarks considered in this study.

The results reveal that the cane sugar industry has developed in respect of number of factories, installed capacity, cane crushed and sugar produced, etc. The analysis reveals that the industry has demonstrated a consistency with regard to five out of seven industry benchmarks and three out of six non-industry benchmarks. Further, the examination indicates that the future trends of technical performance with regard to four out of seven industry benchmarks and five out of six non-industry benchmarks will see upward movements in the years to come. Hence, the cane sugar industry in Maharashtra is expected to demonstrate a consistency in its technical performance for its perpetual sustenance in the long run because it is evident that huge funds are invested in establishing a cane sugar factory in the form of various assets that have their own economic life.