Sugar mills in the country produced 176.83 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar till January 31, around 25 per cent more than 141 lt produced in the corresponding period last season, said the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Tuesday.
As many as 491 mills are in operation currently as compared with 447 in the same period last year. India’s sugar season is from October to September next year.
Mills in Maharashtra produced 63.8 lt of sugar as against 34.64 lt last year and sugar production in Uttar Pradesh was at 54.43 lt, similar to the last year’s 54.96 lt. In Maharashtra, 182 mills are currently crushing sugarcane while 120 mills are in operation in UP, it said.
Karnataka, the third-largest sugar producing State produced 34.83 lt of sugar, higher than 27.94 lt of sugar output in the same period in the last season.
Besides these three States, other sugar-producing States produced 24.21 lt of sugar till date altogether in the season.
According to ISMA, sugar sales during the first three months of the current season — till December 31, 2020 — was 67.5 lt.