India’s sugar production rose 14% at 19.4 million tonne in the first five months (October - February) of the current marketing year ending September, according to industry data.
Between November 2014 and February 2015, the 511 operational mills produced 19.4 million tonnes (mt) of sugar, compared to 17.04 million tonnes produced by 455 sugar mills in the year-ago period. Industry body has projected sugar production at 26 million tonnes in the entire 2014-15 as against 24.3 million tonnes in the previous year. The annual domestic demand is seen at 24.8 million tonnes.
Mills in Uttar Pradesh reported sugar output at 4.96 million tonnes of sugar during October 2014-February 2015, compared to 4.34 mt a year ago. In Maharashtra, mills have produced 7.4 mt during the period under review, a significant rise of 29 per cent from 5.75 mt in the corresponding period of 2013-14. Production in Karnataka rose to 3.28 million tonnes from 3.09 million tonnes in the period under review.