Oceans of cloying chai; coils of sticky jalebi—Indians cannot get enough of the sweet stuff. Already the world's largest consumer of sugar (though with relatively low consumption per person, at 19kg per year, against a global average of 23kg), last year India pipped Brazil to become the world's biggest producer. On September 30th its sugar industry's book-keeping year ends. A reckoning is due. A production bonanza, spurred by the brief scare of a shortfall in 2016-17 and by higher-yielding sugar-cane varieties, has driven India's output to record levels. This year it is expected to hit 33m tonnes of crystalline sugar, compared with domestic demand of about 26m tonnes. The cumulative build-up of sugar means that the mills crushing fresh-cut cane could end up sitting on as much as 14.5m tonnes. That is thought to be the most sugar any country has stockpiled, ever.
展开▼
