Sugar production till mid-December is 13.35 lakh tonnes behind last year
16-Dec-2024 08:48 PM
As of mid-December 2024, India's sugar production is significantly behind last year's pace. Data from the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) reveals that during the current marketing season (October 1 to December 15, 2024), the country has produced 60.85 lakh tonnes of sugar, which is 13.35 lakh tonnes less than the 74.20 lakh tonnes produced during the same period in 2023.
Several factors contribute to this decline:
- Fewer operational sugar mills: The number of operational sugar mills has decreased from 501 in 2023 to 472 in 2024.
- Reduced sugarcane crushing: The total sugarcane crushing has fallen from 850.90 lakh tonnes to 719.24 lakh tonnes.
- Lower recovery rate: The average recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane has decreased from 8.72% to 8.46%.
The performance varies across major sugar-producing states:
- Uttar Pradesh: Slight improvement, with production rising from 22.65 lakh tonnes to 22.95 lakh tonnes.
- Maharashtra: Significant decline, with production falling from 24.85 lakh tonnes to 16.80 lakh tonnes.
- Karnataka: Another drop, from 17.50 lakh tonnes to 13.50 lakh tonnes.
- Gujarat: A decline from 2.65 lakh tonnes to 1.80 lakh tonnes.
- Bihar: A small reduction, from 1.60 lakh tonnes to 1.50 lakh tonnes.
- Tamil Nadu: A sharp fall from 1.80 lakh tonnes to 90 thousand tonnes.
In addition to these key states, smaller contributions have been reported from other regions:
- Andhra Pradesh: 25,000 tonnes
- Haryana: 70,000 tonnes
- Madhya Pradesh: 65,000 tonnes
- Punjab: 30,000 tonnes
- Telangana: 50,000 tonnes
- Uttarakhand: 85,000 tonnes
- Other states: 15,000 tonnes
Despite these regional variations, the combined contribution of the top three producing states (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka) remains high at 87.51% of the total national sugar production, compared to 87.60% last year. This indicates that while some states have seen reductions, the core producers continue to dominate the national production landscape.