The sugarcane arrears to farmers from mills have come down to Rs 6,225 crore in the ongoing sugar season. Out of Rs 6,225 crore cane arrears, Uttar Pradesh has a maximum share of Rs 2,428 crore followed by Rs 1,325 crore in Karnataka and Rs 883 crore in Maharashtra. At present about 87% cane dues have been paid for sugar season 2015-16. The dues stood at Rs 19,437 crore during the same period of last year.
The cane arrears had touched Rs 21,000 crore in April of the 2014-15 sugar season (October-September) as sugar prices were subdued due to surplus sugar production for last five years.
India’s sugar production is estimated to be 25 million tonnes in 2015-16 season, as against 28.3 million tonnes in the previous year.