Sugar Mills Can Turn Ash into Revenue- Dr. Kakasaheb Konde at IFGE Webinar

Pune | SugarToday

Sugar mills are moving beyond sugar and ethanol. They are becoming integrated biorefineries that produce power, CO2 and now, potash from waste.

Dr. Kakasaheb Konde of Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune, presented VSI’s pilot work and commercial case for potash recovery at the Indian Federation of Green Energy National Webinar on Potash Recovery from Distillery Fly Ash: Technology, Sustainability and Scale.

He said the technology is technically ready, agronomically validated and economically viable for scale-up across Maharashtra and India.

From Mills to Biorefineries
Dr. Konde opened with the sector shift. Modern sugar complexes are no longer single-product plants. They deliver sugar, ethanol, steam, power, CO2 and, with recovery systems in place, potash. That mix improves value realization, cuts waste and strengthens sustainability. Under a circular bioeconomy model, residues like incineration ash stop being a disposal burden and become feedstock.

VSI’s Recovery Process and Results
The focus was ESP ash from distillery incineration boilers. VSI’s data shows the ash contains about 15 to 35 percent K2O. Using the institute’s process, the team achieved roughly 80 percent recovery efficiency and produced potash with more than 50 percent K2O.

Pilot trials are complete, which validates technical feasibility. VSI’s Soil Science Department also ran product validation and field trials. The results showed strong fertilizer performance, good crop response and positive agronomic outcomes. That confirms the material works as a fertilizer, not just as a lab product.

Regulatory path is underway. VSI has submitted an application for Fertilizer Control Order approval, which is expected to support wider commercial use once granted.

Scale Available in India
The infrastructure base is already there. Maharashtra has about 44 incineration boilers and India has close to 150. From this base, Maharashtra alone can target about 1 lakh metric tonnes of potash per year. That volume can meaningfully reduce import dependence and add to domestic fertilizer security.

Commercial Case
Dr. Konde shared a reference plant economics for a 10 tonnes per day potash unit. It would need around 30 tonnes of ash per day and can produce about 3,000 tonnes annually. The indicative numbers are: CAPEX 12 crore rupees, annual revenue 6 crore rupees, operating cost 2.25 crore rupees per year, annual profit 3.75 crore rupees, and a payback of about 3.2 years.

At that scale, waste management moves from compliance cost to profit center.

What Should Happen Next
To accelerate adoption, Dr. Konde recommended expanding commercial deployment, encouraging more mills to install recovery units, supporting faster policy and FCO approvals, and improving scale-up support.

His closing point was direct. Potash recovery sits at the intersection of sustainability, new revenue and fertilizer security. If mills adopt it widely, India’s sugar sector can strengthen its position as a globally competitive circular biorefinery ecosystem.