Sugar output rises 22% in first half of 2009-10

Sugar output in the first six months of the 2009-10 season ending September is estimated at 16.7 million tonnes, nearly 22 per cent more than the output in the same period last season, according to an industry body.

The increased output is due to higher supply of cane in Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh, two top sugar producing states in the country, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) has said. India produced 13.7 million tonnes in the same period last year, the NFCSF said.

“Higher supply of cane has boosted sugar production in UP and Maharashtra,” NFCSF Managing Director Vinay Kumar said. So far, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have estimated to have produced 11.1 million tonnes of sugar in the current season (October-September), higher than the 8.5 million tonnes achieved in the last season, he said. Karnataka produced 2.1 million tonnes of sugar in the period. “In the coming months, these two states might produce another 0.6 million tonnes, as cane availability has improved due to non-diversion of cane for gur and khandsari making in UP,” Kumar noted.