After sugar, glut in molasses churns a bitter brew for mills in UP

Record sugar output has also yielded molasses production way beyond market demand and plant capacity of state distilleries and country made liquor units

The sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, which are already facing the prospects of sugarcane arrears default due to their eroding paying capacity over falling prices and market glut, are also saddled with humongous quantities of unsold molasses, a sugar by-product, in their premises. The situation in other sugar producing states is no different, where mills are also feeling the pinch of market glut and subdued takeaway of the stock.

Record sugar production in UP in the current season, which is inching towards 12 million tonnes (MT), has also resulted in record molasses output of over 4.88 MT, far exceeding the