The country’s sugar production is estimated to have increased by 5.64% to 187.04 lakh tonnes in the October-January period of the ongoing marketing year 2021-22 from over the year-ago period, industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Thursday.
Sugar mills had manufactured 177.06 lakh tonnes of sugar in the corresponding period of the previous 2020-21 marketing year (October-September). According to ISMA, sugar production in Uttar Pradesh (the country’s top sugar producing state) remained lower at 50.33 lakh tonnes during the October-January period of this marketing year, compared with 54.4 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
However, sugar production in Maharashtra, the country’s second-largest producing state, rose to 72.9 lakh tonnes from 63.8 lakh tonnes. That of Karnataka, the country’s third-largest producing state, rose to 38.78 lakh tonnes from 34.5 lakh tonnes in the said period. Sugar production reached 5,75,000 tonnes in Gujarat and 2,88,000 tonnes in Tamil Nadu till the January-end of the ongoing marketing year. The remaining states collectively produced 1.64 million tonnes in the said period, ISMA said in a statement.
The industry body hailed an increase in the revised budgetary allocation for the current fiscal to Rs 6,844 crore from Rs 4,337 crore in earlier Budget Estimates for the sugar industry, saying that this is positive towards clearing cane payment. ISMA also said the increase in Budget allocation for the next fiscal at Rs 300 crore (for extending financial assistance to sugar mills for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol capacity) will boost supplies for ethanol blending and reduce the country’s oil import bills.
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