An Empirical Study on Gur (Jaggery) Industry (With Special Reference to Operational Efficiency & Profitability Measurement)

Abstract

Gur (Jaggery) is a natural, traditional product of sugarcane. It can define as a honey brown coloured raw lump of sugar. Kushinagar has large number of Gur manufacturing units, mostly located in the rural areas and the manufacturers are following conventional methods for producing this. In the district the major clusters which are having more numbers of manufacturing units are Sukraouli, Kasia, Hata and Padarauna. Around half of the rural population is employed in gur making industry in this region. Although, there is no R & D assistance and marketing institutions for support. It is found that the manufacturers are producing majorly for distilleries and local licker producers, not for the foodplate or common man’s consumption. The paper examines the cost-return analysis, profitability and operational efficiency of Gur manufacturing units in study area. The study revealed that units of medium and large sizes were able to cover their operating expenses with significant level of profit but small size units were earning a marginal profit. The profit earned by this category was very low as compared to other two sizes. The manufacturers are not interested in any new product of Gur, they just want to earn more profit through Gur only. This research will urged the policymakers to streamline strategies that promote stabilization of sugarcane economy and make the nation credible supplier of Gur in the International market, benefiting Gur makers, sugarcane growers and related stakeholders.

Keywords: Gur industry, Cost-return analysis, efficiency measurement, profitability ratio, operational efficiency

JEL Classification: Q16, H21, C42, D61