India elected chairman of International Sugar Council
02 Dec 2011
India has been elected chairman of International Sugar Council (ISC), an apex organisation of 88 countries dealing with development of the global sugar sector.
The ISC meeting in London today unanimously elected union food secretary B C Gupta as its next chairman. His name was proposed by the European Union (EU) and seconded by Mauritius.
The prime minister of Fiji was elected vice chairman of the Council.
Addressing the ISC meeting, just after the election, Gupta said his top priority would be the further development and stabilisation of sugar sector. Towards this, he suggested increased production of ethanol, development of appropriate technology for conversion of bagasse into ethanol as also adoption of modern agricultural practices for boosting cane production.
India, the second largest producer of sugar in the world after Brazil, and the biggest consumer of sugar, reported sugar production of 25 million tonnes and cane production of 350 million tones in the current season.
Gupta is credited with making efforts for introducing production of sugar from sugar beet in India.
