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Sugar mills in the country have produced 45.81 lakh tonnes of sugar till December 15, nearly 35 per cent less than the 70.54 lt produced in the corresponding period the previous sugar season, said a statement from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Wednesday.
Currently, 406 mills crush sugarcane, as against 473 mills the same period last season.
Sugar production in Uttar Pradesh, the No 1 sugar-producing State, was 21.25 lt, nearly 12 per cent more than the 18.94 lt in the corresponding period last year.
The higher production was possible because the UP mills stared crushing a week in advance this year.
As many as 119 mills are currently in crushing operation as against 116 mills last year.
In Maharashtra, 124 sugar mills are currently in operation and they have produced 7.66 lt of sugar till December 15.
This is much lower than the 29 lt produced in the corresponding period last sugar season. Karnataka sugar mills, 63 of which are in operation, produced 10.62 lt, which is 3.32 lt lower than that in the same period the previous crushing season.
The production in Maharashtra and Karnataka are lower than last year because the mills in these States started crushing late by a month and a week, respectively.
Sugar recovery, too, is reported to be lower than last year, partly because mills are crushing sugarcane damaged by floods, ISMA said.
Sugar mills in Gujarat produced 1.52 lt sugar, Bihar 1.35 lt, while those in six other States, including Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana, produced another 2 lt of sugar so far.
Ethanol production
Sugar mills and standalone distilleries have offered to supply 163 crore litres of ethanol against tenders floated by oil-marketing companies.
Of this, 10.38 crore litres will be sugarcane juice, 62.58 crore litres from B-heavy molasses and 86.39 crore litres from C-heavy molasses.
An additional 3.78 crore litres will come from damaged foodgrains. One more tender of ethanol is expected soon, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said.
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