Sugar production surges 23.4% to 11.83 million tonnes in Oct-Dec: NFCSF

India's sugar production rose 23.43 per cent to 11.83 million tonnes in the first three months of the ongoing 2025-26 season on sharp rise in Maharashtra output, cooperative body NFCSF said on Wednesday.

Sugar production stood at 9.56 million tonnes in the year-ago period, while the total output remained 26.18 million tonnes in the entire 2024-25 season (October-September).

As on December 31, around 499 mills crushed 134 million tonnes of sugarcane, achieving a sugar output of 11.8 million tonnes at an average sugar recovery of 8.83 per cent, National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF) said in a statement.

Sugar output in Uttar Pradesh, the country's largest sugar producing state, increased to 3.56 million tonnes during October-December period of 2025-26 season from 3.26 million tonnes in the year-ago.

Sugar output in Maharashtra, the country's second largest producer, rose 63 per cent to 4.87 million tonnes from 2.99 million tonnes, while that of Karnataka, the output rose to 2.21 million tonnes from 2.05 million tonnes in the said period.

Sugar output in Gujarat rose to 2,85,000 tonnes, Bihar 1,95,000 tonnes and Uttarakhand at 1,30,000 tonnes in the said period. NFCSF has pegged 31.5 million tonnes sugar output for the 2025-26 season, excluding 3.5 million tonne diversion for ethanol.