Sugar output up 6% at 273.47 lakh tonne till Mar 15 this season

Sugar production rose by 6 per cent to 273.47 lakh tonne till March 15 of the current marketing year ending September 2019, helped by higher output in Maharashtra and Karnataka where mills started their operations early, according to industry data.

The country had produced 258.20 lakh tonne sugar in the year-ago period, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

"During 2018-19 sugar season, 527 sugar mills were in operation and they have produced 273.47 lakh tonne of sugar till March 15, 2019," the ISMA said.

As many as 154 mills have stopped crushing and 373 sugar mills are continuing their crushing operations. Mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka are closing fast and their crushing season is on the verge of closing.

According to the ISMA, sugar production in Maharashtra till March 15 was 100.08 lakh tonne as against 93.84 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

In Uttar Pradesh, production was almost flat at 84.14 lakh tonne compared with 84.39 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the 2017-18 marketing year.

Sugar production in Karnataka stood at 42.45 lakh tonne as against 35.10 lakh tonnes.

The ISMA had earlier pegged the country's sugar production at 307 lakh tonne in 2018-19, down from 325 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 marketing year.