Sugar production rose sharply in the ongoing sugar season 2020-21 which started from October 1, as more than 270 sugar mills were in operation till November 15.The sugar mills operating in the current season produced 14.1 lakh tonne sugar till November 15, 2020 as against 4.84 lakh tonne during the same period last year, as per the official data released by the India Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), an apex industry body. Therefore, sugar production in the one-and-a-half months of the current sugar season 2020-21 increased by more than 191% from last year.
As compared to 127 sugar mills crushing sugarcane last year on November 15, 2019, 274 sugar mills were crushing sugarcane on November 15 this year, said ISMA in a statement.In UP, 76 sugar mills have started their crushing operations for the current season and produced 3.85 lakh ton sugar by November 15, 2020. During the same period last year, 78 mills were in operation and had produced 2.93 lakh tons till November 15.Unlike in 2019, owing to good rainfall and sufficient water availability in reservoirs in Maharashtra and Karnataka, as also better cane availability due to higher cane acreage and improved yield per hectare, crushing season commenced well in time during the last week of October 2020.In Maha, 117 sugar mills started crushing operations on Nov 15, 2020 while last year’s season commenced late in the fourth week of November 2019 due to drought.