Page 50 - Avendus Huran Flipbook 2026

side, Stefan Barot, our President of the Chemicals Division, was This momentum will accelerate the production of biofuels like
invaluable. He translated the vision into a credible plan, bringing
global expertise and the operational rigour needed to make it
bankable.
And throughout, both the extended family and our board
created the space to take calculated risks. They challenged the
assumptions but backed the ambition which is exactly what
allowed a legacy company to move confidently into bioplastics.
Balrampur is moving from sugar to becoming a leader in
sustainable materials. How do you balance disruptive ambition
with the conservative operational demands of a legacy
manufacturing business?
Balancing disruptive ambition with the discipline of a legacy
manufacturing business begins with recognizing that the industry
is transforming. Rising demand for healthier alternatives and the
global shift toward sustainability have placed sugarcane at the
center of a new value paradigm. While sugar remains strong, the
real opportunity lies in unlocking the untapped potential of its
by-products.
As governments focus on renewable energy, circularity and
biopolymer production, we are on the brink of harnessing
agri-based carbon for mainstream manufacturing. Bio-based
materials can advance circular economy goals for decades to
come. Our industry has always been sustainable; the challenge
has been cost-effectiveness, and technology, scale and policy
alignment are now making this achievable. Policies like BioE³
and the emphasis on a circular economy reinforce this shift,
evolving sugarcane from a sugar-centric crop into a versatile
source of energy and materials.
48 | Uth Series 2025 • U35 Business Leaders
ethanol and biopolymers such as PLA, unlocking greater value
from every tonne of cane while supporting renewable energy and
sustainable materials. For us at Balrampur, the balance lies in
respecting the operational discipline of our legacy while letting
innovation guide our next chapter, moving confidently from sugar
to sustainable materials without losing the essence of who we are.
You have emphasized farmer livelihoods and sustainability in
public comments. How do you measure the social and economic
impact of BCML’s new initiatives on the lakh-level farming
communities you work with and how will that measurement
shape future projects?
Farmer livelihoods and sustainability aren’t parallel priorities,
they are deeply interconnected. We measure our social and
economic impact through very tangible indicators: Improvements
in yield, reduction in input costs, uptake of sustainable farming
practices and the transparency farmers experience through tools
like our in-house Balram App. The app gives real-time visibility
into payments, crop health and supply schedules, so we track
both adoption rates and the behavioural shifts it creates like
faster decision-making, fewer disputes, and higher trust.
On the ground, metrics come from our field network: Soil health
data, outputs from our testing centers and the performance of
intercropping and precision-farming initiatives. As we transition
more farmers toward certified sustainable cane and multi-utility
crop systems, we directly monitor how these interventions
influence long-term profitability and resilience.