Previous Year Question
Which factors have facilitated the locational shift of the sugar industry from North India to South India?
Per acre higher yield of sugar cane
Higher sucrose content of sugar cane
Longer crushing season
Cheap labour
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
1 and 2
2 and 3
1, 2 and 3
2, 3 and 4
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is correct. Due to tropical climatic conditions in Peninsular/Southern India, the yield of sugarcane per unit area has traditionally been higher than in North India. Higher cane yield enables a mill to obtain more raw material from a comparatively smaller cultivated area.
Statement 2 is correct. Sugarcane grown in several southern and western regions has the advantage of higher sucrose content. Higher sucrose means comparatively greater sugar recovery from the same quantity of cane, improving mill economics.
Statement 3 is correct. Comparatively favourable climatic conditions in Peninsular India allow a longer crushing season. In North India, colder conditions and frost can restrict the growing and crushing period. A longer crushing season permits greater utilisation of mill machinery and better utilisation of fixed costs.
Statement 4 is incorrect. Cheap labour was not a distinctive locational advantage responsible for the shift towards South India. The densely populated sugarcane belts of North India also had considerable labour availability. Therefore, cheap labour is not regarded as a principal factor behind this shift.
Current Context (2026): The “shift towards the South” does not mean that the sugar sector of North India has become unimportant. Government data for 2025-26 continues to identify Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra among India's leading sugarcane-producing States. Therefore, this question should primarily be understood in terms of locational advantages and the historical shift in industrial concentration.