Sugar output falls slightly to 28.18 million tonne till March 15: ISMA

The country's sugar output remained marginally lower at 28.18 million tonne till March 15 of the ongoing marketing year, industry body ISMA said on Friday. Sugar production stood at 28.45 million tonne in the same period of the 2021-22 marketing year. The sugar marketing year runs from October to September.

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), around 336 sugar factories were in operation in the period under review against 438 factories in the year-ago period. After diversion for ethanol production, the country's sugar production was 28.18 million tonne during October-March 15 of the ongoing 2022-23 marketing year, the industry body said in a statement.

The output in Maharashtra, the country's leading producer of the sweetener remained lower at 10.19 million tonne during October-March 15 of the ongoing marketing year compared to 10.90 million tonne in the year-ago period.

The production in Karnataka too, the country's third largest sugar-producing state, showed a marginal decline to 5.35 million tonne as against 5.54 million tonne during the comparable period, ISMA said in a statement.

Sugar output in Uttar Pradesh, the country's second-largest producer of the sweetener, however, remained marginally higher at 7.96 million tonne till March 15 of the ongoing marketing year against 7.83 million tonne in the year-ago period.

The production in other states remained slightly higher at 4.68 million tonne compared to 4.18 million tonne.

ISMA said about 3.11 million tonne of sugar has been diverted for ethanol production in the said period. In the same period of Marketing year 2021-22 diverted sugar for ethanol was 2.54 million tonne.

In January, ISMA revised downwards its sugar production estimate for 2022-23 to 34 million tonne over its earlier estimate of 36.5 million tonne issued in October 2022. Sugar production stood at 35.8 million tonne in the 2021-22 marketing year.