TECHNOLOGY AND LABOR ABSORPTION IN THE INDIGENOUS SUGAR-INDUSTRY OF INDIA - AN ANALYSIS OF APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

A history of the Indian sugar industry occupies an unprecedented posit ion in international terms in that the indigenous sugar industry survi ved even after the advent of the modern sugar industry. Even today the production of indigenous unrefined sugar outweighs that of modern ref ined sugar. This situation suggests us the indigenous sugar industry h as possessed sufficient competitive edge against the modern industry. Our paper on the Indian sugar industry in the 1920s and '30s examines the reasons of the coexistence of the indigenous and modern sugar indu stries, based upon the facts that 1) the modern industry could only gr ow fragile competitiveness despite several protective measures, and th at 2) the indigenous industry enhanced its competitive edge by adaptin g modern sugar technologies and improving indigenous ones. Our investi gation clarifies the necessary conditions for appropriate technology t o satisfy, and also finds the great significance of the employment cre ation effect by appropriate technology.