{"id":13724,"date":"2026-09-21T06:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T06:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commodityconversations.com\/wordpress2\/?p=13724"},"modified":"2026-09-02T19:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:31:15","slug":"a-conversation-with-avantika-saraogi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commodityconversations.com\/wordpress2\/2026\/09\/21\/a-conversation-with-avantika-saraogi\/","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation with Avantika Saraogi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could you please tell me your current role and responsibilities at Balrampur Chini Mills?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am the Executive Director of Balrampur Chini Mills. My responsibilities include: the new PLA bioplastics project; farmer relations; cane procurement and development; communications and media relations; and new technologies and R&D. I am also involved in sugar manufacturing, though not on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

As a fourth-generation leader, you follow in the footsteps of your late grandmother, Padma Shri Meenakshi Saraogi (\u2018Madamji\u2019), a true industry icon. <\/strong>What did you learn from her management style, and why is she such an inspiration to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I admire most is her grit: the confidence to jump in and not stop until the job was done; not giving up until what she set out to do was completed.<\/p>\n

Picture 1980: an Indian housewife who had never worked before, a Hindi literature major, with a 14-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. She left a comfortable, affluent life in Calcutta to turn around a struggling sugar mill in Balrampur. At that time, even fruit and bread had to be brought from Lucknow, three hours away.<\/p>\n

She did not stop there. She put up all our greenfield projects, and during the first season of every greenfield, brownfield or project phase, she was physically present throughout. For most people, that would be nerve-racking and intimidating; for her, it was simply how she ticked.<\/p>\n

She showed me that nothing can limit you except yourself. If you really want to do something, just do it.<\/p>\n

Is entrepreneurship inherited and absorbed through family life, or can it be taught? Where does your entrepreneurial drive come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not think it was taught to me in a traditional way. Children do not always learn what you tell them; they learn what they see. I grew up with a strong sense of responsibility: making sure you took care of your people and their concerns, whether big or small. Everything mattered to my grandmother and my father.<\/p>\n

To me, entrepreneurship is about picking the right people, taking care of them and enabling them to perform, while performing yourself in the process. I think you can learn it, but only through real-life observation rather than simply by imparting knowledge or going to college.<\/p>\n

You attended Scripps College in California. Did you absorb some of the Californian can-do business culture there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not really. I studied liberal arts and majored in art and dance, so it had nothing to do with business. But I learned a valuable skill: a US college education taught me that I can read anything and make sense of it, whether it is boring or highly complicated.<\/p>\n

We had pages and pages of reading every day\u2014history, art history, civil movements, and literature. I took a course on James Joyce\u2019s Ulysses, which was a crazy book to get through. If I could get through that, an agreement or a court order is easy. I am indebted to that education for teaching me how to work through complex material.<\/p>\n

You spent six and a half years in the restaurant business before joining the family company. What did you learn there that helps you now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned two important skills.<\/p>\n

First, do not stress about what you cannot control. In restaurants, weather, broken equipment, travel disruptions, or COVID can suddenly affect everything. I learned to move from \u201cOh my God, what am I going to do?\u201d to \u201cWhat can we do?\u201d That helped when I joined Balrampur; the weather was poor, and red rot had affected our best cane variety. Untimely rain was ruining crops. I could not control the weather or the disease, but I could focus on the actions available to us.<\/p>\n

Second, I learned how to deal with government offices. A restaurant in Calcutta needs around 13 licences. My family had no business there, so I handled the process myself: the paperwork, the waiting, and dealing with everyone from junior staff to senior officials. It took more than a year. It taught me about India’s bureaucratic culture, the value of perseverance, and that nothing is impossible. Things may take time, but if you keep pushing, they happen. I would not trade that experience for anything.<\/p>\n

You have previously stated that over the past ten years you have increased cane farmers\u2019 incomes by more than 50 per cent. How did you achieve that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By helping them become entrepreneurs and providing them with agricultural equipment and new lines of work. In the past five years alone, we have distributed tens of thousands of pieces of equipment.<\/p>\n

Our biggest achievement is building enough trust for farmers to try what we ask without fearing they will be penalised. That credibility enables us to create change quickly. It is very hard to replace varieties and agricultural practices passed down through generations, but this is essential to increasing value across the sugar chain.<\/p>\n

We have set up a tissue-culture lab that produces new sugarcane varieties and enables rapid multiplication. I believe we are the only company in India doing this. We can replace entire varieties across our ecosystem in three to four years. That is unheard of, and it happens only because of trust. It is an unsung yet central part of the business.<\/p>\n

Sustainability is clearly important to you. How are you making your processes more environmentally sustainable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have never bought a tonne of coal\u2014at least not in the past 40 years. We are fully powered by renewable energy. But sustainability is broader than energy.<\/p>\n

We have also focused on water. In four factories, we use no groundwater to produce sugar. Across the sugar side, none of our factories needs to extract groundwater because sugarcane is 70 per cent water. We use large-scale purification and water-polishing units, and we are working to reduce groundwater extraction to zero.<\/p>\n

On the farm side, we are reducing the chemical load. Farmers often over-fertilise or apply insecticides when they are not needed. For the past five years, we have been developing mechanical and biological controls for all crops, so there is always a mechanical or biological option, and chemicals can be phased out. It takes time, but reducing chemicals is better for the environment, health and all crops in the area, not only sugarcane.<\/p>\n

Within our plants, we implement energy-saving projects every year. This reduces environmental impact and actual costs, because we need less bagasse to run the plant. The bagasse can then be sold or used for something else.<\/p>\n

Are your new cane varieties more drought-resistant and less reliant on irrigation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our issue is the opposite. In Balrampur, we face little drought risk; we look for flood- or waterlogging-tolerant varieties. Around 35 per cent of our cane grows in waterlogging areas, which we define as areas where water stagnates for more than a month.<\/p>\n

Flowing floodwater can bring nutrients and be beneficial, as long as it stays below the cane\u2019s neck. The real problem is stagnant water, which becomes a breeding ground for everything. That is the climate challenge specific to our area.<\/p>\n

When you joined the family business, whose idea was it to move into PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was my idea. My father is a conservative, traditional businessman, and it took four years to convince him and the senior management team. There were many questions, what-ifs, and crossed Ts and dotted Is. In their hearts, I think people wanted it too, but they wanted to make sure all the holes and leaks were plugged.<\/p>\n

I am happy it happened that way, because the timing now seems right. But it was definitely my idea.<\/p>\n

How did you come up with the idea?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was looking for ways to add value to our product and by-products. After training, when I joined, I had two responsibilities: cane, which was the biggest vacuum after my grandmother left the business, and adding value.<\/p>\n

I was researching online\u2014what was possible and what other countries and companies were doing\u2014and found a clear bottle with French writing that said, \u201cI\u2019m made from sugarcane.\u201d That set me off down the rabbit hole.<\/p>\n

Initially, I thought PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastic was made from bagasse and that it might require a \u20b950 crore investment. I thought we could set up ten small units, one at each mill: good for the environment and everything. Then I discovered the scale was closer to \u20b93,000 crore\u2014about $324 million at the time. It began simply, but it was a good start.<\/p>\n

You want more than 50 per cent of your company\u2019s revenue to come from non-sugar sources. Is this achievable across the Indian sugar-milling sector, or are bioplastics only a supplementary revenue stream?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We need to zoom out a little. PLA is technically complex and energy-intensive. I decided that we would not use fossil-based energy in this plant. To be energy-independent, a company needs its own biomass and, in my view, probably four or five mills. Biomass can be bought, but it is always better to have your own energy source. I would not recommend this model to a company with only one mill.<\/p>\n

For larger groups, this is repeatable. India consumes around 5 million tonnes of single-use plastics. If even 20 per cent were shifted to PLA, it would require around 1 million tonnes of PLA and approximately 1.7 million tonnes of sugar. That is manageable for the country.<\/p>\n

We are starting with 80,000 tonnes. Over the long term, I believe there is headroom for around 2 million tonnes of sugar to be used in PLA and other bioplastics, alongside perhaps 3.5 million tonnes diverted to ethanol\u2014provided we navigate the current variety transition, unusual rainfall and climate challenges, and develop more climate-resilient varieties. This can work for sugar, farmers and the environment.<\/p>\n

How is the project progressing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are on track. We will begin commissioning the lactic-acid side in October, with PLA to follow in November and December. Commissioning should be complete within the year, and from January we hope to have product from the new plant in the market.<\/p>\n

What has been the most difficult operational issue to resolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transporting imported equipment. The disruption in West Asia meant shipments that should have passed through Suez had to go around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing costs and time. We also had a vessel break down near the Cape.<\/p>\n

Then came the challenge of moving the equipment in India. Some columns are 40 metres long and very wide. Length is manageable, but turning radii and height restrictions are much harder to navigate. We have had to open and restore electrical lines, dismantle and rebuild railway crossings, lift footbridges, and, in some places, dig under roads. It could be a movie.<\/p>\n

People now know the route the equipment will take. Children leave schools and people leave their homes to wave; they make reels with music in the background. We have around ten very large pieces of equipment from China and Europe. The sea voyage can take a month, but moving the equipment to the plant in India can take six months.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s now move to bioplastic demand. Is PLA biodegradable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Biodegradable\u2019 is a complex term. It depends on where and under what conditions. The most widely accepted standard is industrial compostability. Europe, India, the US and international standards all address biodegradation under industrial composting conditions.<\/p>\n

We also needed to understand what happens if the material is littered, and we worked with the Indian government to test this. In Indian climatic conditions, it should break down in under five years if littered. In a landfill, it should break down in one summer season because conditions are hotter and more humid than in Europe. We do not want to promote littering, but India is not an easy place for collection, segregation and recycling, so we have to know what happens in the real world.<\/p>\n

India is highly price-sensitive, so we have focused on regulation first, then on scaling and lowering prices.<\/p>\n

One major opportunity is packaging for chewing tobacco. Small sachets have been a major source of litter; in 2011 the Supreme Court banned plastic packaging for this purpose, but aluminium foil with paper became the alternative and does not degrade. We have developed a PLA-based solution that degrades in under three years. This is under consideration at the highest levels of government and could account for more than half of our plant capacity.<\/p>\n

A second opportunity is small water bottles\u2014500 ml and below. Hotels, offices and events increasingly do not want conventional plastic bottles, but glass is heavy, fragile and creates painful reverse logistics. We have made the case for small bottles to transition to PLA in Uttar Pradesh, where we are setting up.<\/p>\n

Both Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have incentive policies for bioplastics. Maharashtra has set a target of 200,000 tonnes of PLA and other bioplastics, with \u20b925,000 crore over five years. Uttar Pradesh has also announced a bioplastics cluster next to our plant, which will reduce transport costs. The governments are interested and excited. The path is regulation first; once scale rises and prices fall, the industry should need less support.<\/p>\n

Will you export PLA or focus on the domestic market?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My preference is the domestic market. A great deal of global plastic conversion already takes place in India, particularly in flexible packaging. I would like India to add another step of value before exporting, rather than exporting PLA directly.<\/p>\n

What sugar feedstock will you use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are three options. We will start with refined, sulphur-free sugar because it is the cleanest. We can also use raw sugar, and our testing has been very good. The third option, which I want to move to within four to six months, is fine liquor before sugar crystallisation. That saves energy, time, processing, bagging and granulation.<\/p>\n

Does your integration from fields to final product make you more competitive?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have two key advantages.<\/p>\n

First, we don\u2019t need to transport sugar or energy feedstock: everything is highly local. That is a significant saving, especially when fuel prices are high.<\/p>\n

Second, ours will be the lowest-carbon-footprint PLA ever produced because we don’t use any fossil-based inputs in the plant and transport is minimal.<\/p>\n

Can you use corn as a feedstock, and how competitive would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. China and the US produce PLA from corn. Within about a year to a year and a half after start-up, we should be able to produce from grains, including corn and rice. Policy will continue to shift as PLA grows in India, so we need to be ready to use whatever feedstock is most appropriate.<\/p>\n

Ethanol taught us that you cannot rely on a single feedstock. Weather changes everything. At present, sugar and grain are broadly at cost parity, with one or the other sometimes slightly higher.<\/p>\n

The longer-term opportunity lies in other biomass feedstocks, including cellulosic agricultural residues that farmers often burn. We are working on splitting cellulosic feedstocks into hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. The challenge is to create scalable value for lignin.<\/p>\n

Our mandate is to identify ways lignin might reduce chemical use in plantations\u2014for example, as a fertiliser or insecticide substitute. The work is progressing, but it will take at least a year to develop a viable technology and perhaps seven years to commercialise. I want us to be ready not only for grain but also for third-generation feedstocks: first generation now, then leapfrog to third generation.<\/p>\n

How will you incentivise biomass supply and transport it to the plant economically?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is straightforward and already planned. We do not expect farmers to bring the material to us. Third-party local entrepreneurs use baling machines to bale residues, load them onto trucks, and transport them to the plant. We direct them to the fields, and they collect residue field by field.<\/p>\n

We have already begun this system because our thermic fluid heater\u2014a boiler for oil rather than steam, required for one process\u2014is fired by agricultural residue. Farmers are happy for us to clear their fields while they stay at home.<\/p>\n

Second-generation ethanol has struggled because breaking down bagasse is both expensive and difficult. What does that mean for your second- and third-generation plans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cost is certainly there. The key is lignin. If we can add enough value to lignin, it could offset part of the cost. But from a pure-cost perspective, I do not see second-generation processes reaching cost parity soon\u2014perhaps not for two decades unless there is a major breakthrough.<\/p>\n

Bagasse is roughly one-third cellulose, one-third hemicellulose and one-third lignin, though the proportions vary. You can ferment cellulose and hemicellulose to produce ethanol, but lignin is generally just burned for energy. That is where the problem lies.<\/p>\n

If lignin could serve as an insecticide or fertiliser substitute, the economics would improve. We have access to 550,000 farmers and potentially many more beyond cane growers, so we could establish a distribution market for such products.<\/p>\n

Would using corn enable year-round operation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can already operate year-round using stored sugar. Other feedstocks would provide the next level of flexibility. As we expand, we may choose among sugar, grains and other inputs, depending on crop conditions, climate and cost.<\/p>\n

Do you wish you had studied chemical engineering rather than the arts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chemical engineering is where my heart, mind and soul gravitate. But I am glad I did not study it formally, because that gives you a superpower: you do not know what is supposedly impossible, so you ask, \u201cBut why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes people forget why something was ruled out, and when they look again, they realise it may be possible. I have had extensive practical chemical engineering training. I understand the sugar process, ethanol and PLA. Chemical plants are variations on fermentation, distillation, polymerisation, separation, putting things together and taking them apart.<\/p>\n

Do you see a future in which Balramphur drops \u2018Chini\u2019 (Hindi for \u2018Sugar\u2019) from its name to reflect a biochemical identity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would not change \u2018Chini\u2019. It is the building block of chemistry. Without it, we do not have a biosource. Even if we move to grain, starch is still sugar.<\/p>\n

I am also sentimentally attached to the name. It is generational: I have been visiting the plant since I was one. It is my grandmother\u2019s legacy and my father\u2019s life\u2019s work. I would retain the name and add verticals and brands. Our PLA brand is BioYug\u2014yug means era\u2014the era of biomanufacturing.<\/p>\n

In ten years, what would you like to be able to tell me then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, we have doubled PLA capacity. Second, we are making\u2014or well on the way to making\u2014at least one more biochemical or bioplastic molecule. I have five possibilities in the running now, so some should be commercialised by then. Third, I would like third-generation agricultural-residue products to see the light of day.<\/p>\n

If I can tell you those three things in ten years, I will be happy.<\/p>\n

I am confident you will get there! Thank you, Avantika, for your time and input.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9Commodity Conversations\u00ae2026<\/p>\n

The second edition of my book, The Sugar Casino, will be published in September.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Could you please tell me your current role and responsibilities at Balrampur Chini Mills? I am the Executive Director of Balrampur Chini Mills. My responsibilities include: the new PLA bioplastics project; farmer relations; cane procurement and development; communications and media relations; and new technologies and R&D. I am also involved in sugar manufacturing, though not … <\/p>\n

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