How much electricity does a raw rice mill in Berhampur use per tonne?
About 19 kWh a tonne on average, by TERI's 2015-16 profile of Berhampur's 160 raw rice mills, and that is their only energy: no boiler, no fuel. A 1.5 tonne a day mill uses about 30 kWh a tonne and a 6 tonne mill about 15, so the smallest mills emit twice the CO2 per tonne.
A mill that runs on the meter alone
Berhampur's mills make raw rice for the state's public distribution system from paddy the government procures, and are paid against an assumed yield of 680 kg of rice per tonne of paddy. There is no parboiling, so no steam. Every tonne of paddy also gives about 170 kg of husk, 60 kg of bran and 40 kg of broken rice, and the husk is sold, not burnt. Your power bill is your whole footprint.
Three sizes, three figures
- 1.5 tonnes a day: 100 mills, 5,400 t a year in all. About 30 kWh a tonne, 1,620 kWh a year per mill.
- 3 tonnes a day: 20 mills, 5,760 t. About 25 kWh a tonne, 7,200 kWh a year per mill.
- 6 tonnes a day: 40 mills, 20,160 t. About 15 kWh a tonne, 7,560 kWh a year per mill.
- The small mills are 62% of the cluster by count and under 18% of its output. An average one mills about 54 t a year, roughly 36 days at its rated capacity.
- The whole cluster: 608 MWh, 52 toe, for about 31,320 t in 2015-16.
Per tonne of paddy, or of rice?
The profile's text says per tonne of rice, but its tables divide each mill's kWh by paddy milled: 1,620 kWh over 54 t is the 30 kWh. At the usual 67% yield, 30 kWh a tonne of paddy is about 45 kWh a tonne of rice. Pick one, write it next to the number, and keep it every month. A buyer comparing you with another mill will ask.
Why the small mill uses double
- In about 100 mills the sheller and the row of cone polishers run off one shaft, belt driven by one large, old motor. Belts and pulleys lose power on every drive, loaded or not.
- TERI's figure for separate efficient motors, direct coupled or on cogged V-belts: 20 to 25% less kWh per tonne. Across those 100 mills, 32,400 of 162,000 kWh a year.
- Separators and de-stoners already have their own 1 to 2 hp motors, so the shared shaft is where to look first.
- The surplus husk could feed a gasifier and engine for the mill's own power, which TERI lists along with efficient motors and lighting.
The profile's CO2 figure is old
TERI put the cluster at 596 t CO2, which works out to about 0.98 kg per kWh, a grid factor from years ago. At the CEA's FY 2025-26 figure of 0.675 kg the same 608 MWh is about 410 t. Use the current factor and your own bills, not the profile's total.
What to log each month
- kWh and the billing period from the electricity bill.
- Paddy received and paddy milled, in tonnes.
- Rice out, so you can show either basis.
- Husk, bran and broken rice sold, by weight.
A small and a large mill, one year each
- 1.5 tonne a day mill: 1,620 kWh x 0.675 kg = 1.09 t CO2; 30 kWh x 0.675 = 20.3 kg per tonne of paddy
- 6 tonne a day mill: 7,560 kWh x 0.675 = 5.10 t CO2; 15 kWh x 0.675 = 10.1 kg per tonne
- Small mill on separate motors at 20% less: 324 kWh saved, 0.22 t CO2 a year, about 24 kWh a tonne
- Whole cluster: 608,000 kWh x 0.675 = about 410 t CO2 a year
Per tonne of paddy milled, as the profile's tables work it out.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads your monthly power bills into kWh and CO2 and sets them against the paddy you milled, so you can hand a buyer a per-tonne figure with the bills behind it.
Sources: TERI and SAMEEEKSHA, Cluster profile: Berhampur rice mills (2016), CEA, CO2 baseline database for the Indian power sector
Last reviewed 2026-11-03.