Sugar production in the country has gone up by 11% at 25.1 million tonnes during October-April, 2011-12, according to industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). With the increase, ISMA is absolutely certain that its sugar production estimate of 26 mt projected way back in July 2011 will be achieved. In the same period last year the country had produced about 22.6 mt.
Most of the estimated increase has been contributed by Uttar Pradesh, which has seen a rise of almost 1.1 mt in sugar production at 6.95 mt this year so far. The output has risen by 5 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra, and stands at 8.83 mt. Production in Karnataka stood at 3.71 mt, in Tamil Nadu at 1.57 mt and in Andhra Pradesh at 1.11 mt.
The balance of the targeted sugar is expected to come from Tamil Nadu which is expected to still produce about 6.5 lakh tonnes between May and September in the current season. During last year, sugar mills in Tamil Nadu produced 6.9 lakh tonnes during May-September. ISMA’s production estimates are higher than the Government’s estimates of 25.2 mt for this year.