Sugar mills in the country produced 73.77 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar till December 15, nearly 61 per cent more than 45.81 lt more than the production in the corresponding period last year, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement on Thursday.

While 118 mills in Uttar Pradesh produced 22.6 lt of sugar as 21.25 lt produced by 119 mills in the same period last year, the sugar production in Maharashtra where 173 mills are currently crushing, was 26.96 lt. The State, which commenced crushing later last year due to lower availability of sugarcane, produced only 7.66 lt in the same period.

India’s sugar season is between October and September in the following year.

Sugar production in Karnataka — the third largest sugar producing State — was 16.65 lt (10.62 lt). Like in Maharashtra, sugar production was affected significantly in Karnataka, too, last year. Other sugar-producing States contributed another 7.56 lt of sugar so far.

Exports and MSP hike

Quoting trade and market sources, ISMA said about 2.5-3 lt of sugar have been exported in the current sugar season so far after October 1, which will be accounted for against the MAEQ of last season as the export policy for last year was extended up to December 31, thus almost fully achieving the target of 60 lakh tonnes of sugar export set for the previous sugar season.

It, however, said the industry is awaiting the government decision on increase in MSP (minimum selling price) of sugar, which was last revised almost 2 years ago. Since then the government has already increased the FRP of sugarcane by ₹10 per quintal for the current year, there is need to increase the MSP of sugar to ₹34.50 per kg. after considering the increased FRP of sugarcane for the current season.

The ex-mill sugar prices are under pressure in most of the States and to ensure that sugar mills are able to pay to farmers on time, there is a need to quickly decide on increasing the MSP of sugar, ISMA said.

Cane arrears

The late decision on MSP has already affected the cane payment ability of the sugar millers. The current cane price arrears are reported to be about ₹3,500 crore and if MSP is not increased quickly, the arrears will jump very fast to uncomfortable levels, the apex sugar industry body said.

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