The Indian Sugar Mills Association estimates Indian consumption to be 22 million tons annually.

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That opportunity arose in 1998 when the rules were eased, allowing privatesector companies to establish new sugar mills.

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Three out of four sugar mills are not connected to the electricity grid.

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Others, encouraged by the Sugar Mills Association, are reviving zoning systems from the 1970s, agreeing not to compete for cane.

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Still, roughly 200 new sugar mills have been licensed since 1994.

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Family founded one of nation's first sugar mills 1927.

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To overcome the seasonality of the sugar business--mills tend to remain idle for six months after the crushing season--the Murkumbis modified the Munoli factory to start refining raw sugar once imports of the commodity were allowed in 2004.

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Cultiba is one of the largest private sector producers of sugar in Mexico, with three mills and a 49% interest in a fourth mill.

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"The answer to the allergy is sugar, " said Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, who discovered the allergy with his junior colleague Dr. Scott Commins.

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General Mills plans to reduce the amount of sugar in its cereals.

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Their owners had been losing money, and sugar prices had been depressed for years, but Albaugh wanted the mills for an alcohol they produce that is used to make 2, 4-D.

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Many growers, meanwhile, say the behavior from mills only encourages them to shift even more land away from sugar to other crops.

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