Sugar production this season, estimated at 24.1 million tonnes in the country, is expected to remain unaffected due to delay in commencement of sugarcane crushing, Food Minister

K V Thomas said on Tuesday, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Due to financial problems, most of the private mills in Uttar Pradesh, a major producer in the country, did not start crushing operations this year on time, expressing their inability to pay higher cane price fixed by the state government. They, however, commenced operations only after the state government announced some relief measures to millers.