Maharashtra sugar production up 33% at 7.61 lakh tonnes

India's sugar production rose by 33 per cent to 7.61 lakh tonnes till November 15th in the current marketing year on higher output from Maharashtra.

Sugar production in India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, stood at 5.74 lakh tonnes in the same period of 2014-15 marketing year (October-September).

Mills exported 80,000 tonnes of sweetener last month and have contracted to ship 2-3 lakh tonnes this month.

"Crushing operations for the current 2015-16 sugar season started late October and early November in few parts of the country," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

"As on November 15, 2015, 175 mills have started crushing as against 155 in 2014-15 sugar season same time. Till 15th November, sugar mills have produced 7.61 lakh tonnes of sugar, as against 5.74 lakh tonnes produced last year up to the corresponding period," it added.

India is all set to produce surplus sugar for the sixth straight year at 26-27 million tonnes in 2015-16. To liquidate surplus stock, the Centre has made it mandatory for millers to export 4 million tonnes in the current season.

According to industry body ISMA, mills in Maharashtra have produced 4.31 lakh tonnes as on 15th November against 3.1 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

Similarly, production of the commodity in Karnataka stood at 1.60 lakh tonnes this marketing year, which is almost similar to the last year's output in the corresponding period.

Mills in Gujarat have produced 1.1 lakh tonnes of sugar, against 0.78 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. In Tamil Nadu, production rose to 0.40 lakh tonnes from last sugar season's 0.12 lakh tonnes.

"As per the reports submitted by sugar factories to the Government of India, sugar mills have exported about 0.80 lakh tonnes of sugar in October 2015. However, there are reports that sugar mills have already made contracts for export of around 2 to 3 lakh tonnes in November 2015," ISMA said in a statement.

Yesterday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to pay sugarcane growers Rs 4.50 per quintal for the cane they will sell to loss-making millers, a move that will cost Rs 1,147 crore to the exchequer.

The decision was hailed by ISMA, which said that millers' cane price liability would reduce by about Rs 1,100 crore, thus partly compensating their losses.