Sugar mills in the country produced 142.7 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar till January 15 — nearly 31 per cent more than 108.94 lt produced during the corresponding period in the previous sugar season, said a statement from Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Monday.

While 181 mills involved in crushing operation in Maharashtra produced 51.55 lt of sugar during this period, total sugar production by 120 mills in Uttar Pradesh was around 43 lt. Sugar production in these two States stood at 25.51 lt and 43.78 lt, respectively in the previous season.

In Karnataka, where 66 mills are in operation, sugar output was 29.8 lt (21.9 lt). All other sugar-producing States contributed 18.36 lt so far, the ISMA statement said.

Ethanol programme

Oil marketing companies have so far approved tenders for about 310 crore litres of ethanol, including 39.36 crore litres from damaged foodgrains and surplus rice. Some States, including Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have already achieved a blending percentage of 9-10 per cent by January 11.

According to ISMA, mills have exported 3 lt of sugar between October and December towards the 2019-20 quota which was extended by a quarter till December 31.