March 4, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/kP8ogU
India's sugar production rose 14% in first four months of the current crushing season (November 2014 - October 2015), apex industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement, according to India's Business Standard newspaper.
The 511 operational mills produced 19.4 million tonnes of sugar between November 2014 and February 2015, 2.36 million tonnes higher than 17.04 million tonnes of the sweetener produced by 455 mills in the same period last year.
Mills in Uttar Pradesh reported sugar output at 4.96 million tonnes by the end of February 2015 as compared to 4.34 million tonnes produced by the same time last year. Three out of 118 operational crushing units have declared closure for the current season.
In Maharashtra, 177 sugar mills produced 7.4 million tonnes during the period under consideration, a significant rise of 29% from 5.75 million tonnes of the sweetener produced by 129 mills last year.
Rising sugar output has compounded mills' problems with cane arrears mounting to INR145 billion (US$2.34 billion), a significant rise from the peak level of INR130 billion in March last year.
India is heading for over 26 million tonnes of sugar output this year as against 24.4 million tonnes in the previous year.