Buoyed by early crushing resorted to by Maharashtra and Karnataka mills, the sugar production in the country reached 21.93 million tonnes by February 15, nearly 8 per cent higher than 20.36 mt achieved during the corresponding period last year, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Wednesday. 

As against 494 mills involved in crushing last year in the same period, 507 mills are in operation, it said.

This year the total sugar production is projected to be 30.7 mt, which is lower than 32.5 mt in the previous sugar season, which ended September last year. 

Last week, the Government announced a ₹2 per kg increase in the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar to ₹31 per kg to help sugar factories and enable speedy clearance of sugarcane arrears to farmers. The decision was taken keeping in the mind the fact that the ballooning arrears could become a political issue in the election year. 

While mills in Maharashtra produced 8.3 mt tonnes of sugar till February 15, their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh produced 6.4 mt of the sweetener during the same period. While the sugar production reported from Maharashtra was nearly 8 per cent more than the last year, the mills in UP crushed less and produced nearly 0.6 mt less year-on-year. In Maharashtra, 187 mills are in operation and in UP, 117 mills are in operation.

Since the mills in Maharashtra commenced crushing early, they would close earlier than last year as the production from the state is expected to be less this year, ISMA said.

“The sugar recovery achieved this season is about 0.77 per cent more than what was achieved so far during the last season, but the yield per hectare is lower than last year, because of which the total production in UP will be less than that last year,” the sugar industry body said.

In Karnataka, 67 mills, including 10 which closed crushing, produced 3.87 mt, which was higher than its 3.07 mt output of last year. While 16 mills in Gujarat produced 7.87 lakh tonnes, 33 mills in Tamil Nadu produced 3.5 lakh tonnes, as compared to 2.9 lakh tonnes produced during in the last sugar season. 

The sugar production so far in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where 24 mills are in operation, is 4.5 lakh tonnes, which is marginally than the 4.6 lakh tonnes produced till February 15 last year.

Similarly, sugar production in Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh was 4.9 lakh tonnes, 2.15 lakh tonnes, 3.75 lakh tonnes and 3.60 lakh tonnes and 3.2 lakh tonnes respectively.

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