Gokak jaggery cluster (Karnataka)

Introduction

Gokak, located close to Belgaum in the state of Karnataka, has one of India’s largest clusters of jaggery making units. Jaggery is a natural, traditional sweetener made by concentrating sugarcane juice. The region around Gokak has plenty of water and sufficient seasonal rainfall to enable extensive sugarcane cultivation. There are about 120 jaggery making units in the Gokak cluster, most of them MSMEs. The cluster produces two types of jaggery: jaggery with sugar and jaggery without sugar. Bagasse, produced from the crushed sugarcane, is used in the units as the primary thermal energy source for heating the sugarcane juice.

Products manufactured

Jaggery

Number of MSME

120

Energy consumption

Low

Main fuels

Bagasse; electricity

Annual Production

44,700 tpa; 1.5 billion rupees (150 crores)

Total energy consumption (toe)

34,735

Energy efficiency initiatives

Advancing Energy Efficiency in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector in India

Cluster manual

http://www.sameeeksha.org/pdf/clusterprofile/Gokak-jaggery-cluster.pdf

Other resources

• MSME Development Institute (MSME DI), Hubli - http://www.msmedihubli.gov.in/