INDIA'S SUGAR INDUSTRY

The Indian sugar industry plays a vital role in social-economic development of rural areas. Nevertheless, labour-intensive production stands behind high production costs that render Indian sugar less competitive on the world markets. Although the Indian state tries to ensure food security, its complicated and unpredictable price and regulatory policies lead to a clear distortion of the domestic sugar market. Apart from this, some other deficiencies that also lower the potential of the local sugar industry have to be added. Even the recent reform changes do not promise a quick remedy. On the other hand, it is necessary to point out that the production of bio-fuels in India has developed considerably in the past years and its organization can be considered as mature. Nonetheless, further continuation of this success will depend on the development and modernization of the Indian sugar industry in the near future.