The Indian sugar industry - Opportunities and challenges

India has a very long history of sugar making. Traditional forms of sugar - gur and khandsari - are still made in large quantities, and increasingly large amounts of refined sugar have been produced since the 1930's, Indians also have a sweet tooth, and India is now the world's largest producer and consumer of sugar. However, the Indian sugar market is complex, and has been subjected to periods of varying governmental control. Currently, 40% of sugar produced by the organized sector must be supplied at reduced rates to the 'Public Distribution System', although this does not apply to the makers of gur and khandsari, or to small-scale factories. This puts large-scale, efficient producers at a considerable disadvantage. Thus, counter to global trends, small units have flourished at the expense of larger mills. There are now major pressures to liberalise the market and to reduce, or abolish, these limitations in the near future. This is likely to have a major, energising and modernising influence on the Indian sugar industry overall.