Mr. Sunil Singhal

(BT/CHE/71)

Mr. Singhal is the Founder, Chairman, and President of Chemical Systems Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and he is also the Founder of Ecoware, a pioneering brand offering compostable, biomass-based tableware. He is passionate about creating technologies and processes that support sustainability, and he has used his expertise to introduce several solutions that benefit the country.

Mr. Singhal started Chemical Systems Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in 1990 with the vision of modernizing the Indian sugar industry through advanced process chemicals and new technologies. He is also associated with professional bodies such as the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists and the Sugar Technologists Association of India. He is a member of the Bioenergy Committee and the CEO Forum for Clean Air at CII. He has earlier served as the Chairman of the Advanced Biofuel Committee at CII and is currently the President of the IIT Kanpur Alumni Association, Delhi Chapter.

Profile

Mr. Singhal did his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1971. He was the top rank holder of IIT JEE 1966. Later, he received a degree in Marketing Management from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai, in 1975. After completing his education, Mr. Singhal worked for India Carbon Ltd. and ALA Chemicals, and later he joined the leading American specialty chemical manufacturer, Mazer Chemicals, USA, where he was appointed to a senior position to market their chemicals in India in 1979. He worked in this capacity until 1986 in several South-East Asian countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. He was then appointed the toll formulator in India for Mazer Chemicals, USA. Mr. Singhal was the pioneer to introduce FDA food additive standards, as applicable in the USA, in India.

In 1996, Mr. Singhal diversified into project execution and upgraded several sugar factories into refineries, incorporating the latest technologies leading to improved productivity and better returns. Mr. Singhal has mentored several incubated start-ups at IIT Kanpur, including those developing compostable bio-polymers from chicken feathers, construction panels from plastic waste, biomass derivatives such as lignin, silica, and cellulose, bank-fraud detection software, and advanced bio-fertilisers.

Mr. Singhal has made several pioneering contributions in the field of process technology and sustainability. He led the creation of India's first sugar refinery in 1998 and has since contributed to the development of 60 more refineries worldwide. He introduced several global firsts, including a brine recovery system, a decanter-based mud removal system, and a continuous ion-exchange process. His work has also enabled an average 50% reduction in energy consumption in sugar mills. Beyond this, his achievements include developing a green process for converting sewage into drinking water, creating biomass-based tableware to replace single-use plastic, and extracting a very high-capacity antioxidant from sugarcane.

Mr. Singhal holds several patents that reflect his innovative work across sustainability and process engineering. These include a method for extracting a very high antioxidant-capacity concentrate, a process for producing sugar and alcohol from sugarcane, and a unique technique for simultaneously producing plantation white sugar and refined sugar from sugarcane. He also holds a patent for a process that separates sulphur trioxide from gaseous mixtures, as well as an organic vermifilter-based compost and a mobile sewage treatment and water-recovery system.

Mr. Singhal is also an active philanthropist and has set up a primary school in Jogiwala village near Dehradun where children receive free education. This school is currently in its 22nd year. Mr. Sunil Singhal was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012 from IIT Kanpur.

Achievements and Honors

• Recipient of Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012 by IIT Kanpur
• Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award by Sugar Technologists Association of India
• Recipient of Engineering Excellence Award by Sugar Technologists Association of India