Sugar mills in the country produced 258.68 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar till March 15 — nearly 20 per cent more than 216.13 lt produced in the corresponding period in the previous sugar season — riding mainly on significantly improved performance of mills in Maharashtra, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Wednesday.

Of the 502 mills in the country, 331 are still crushing sugarcane while 171 had stopped crushing already. During the previous sugar season, 319 were in operation while 138 mills stopped crushing in the same period.

In Maharashtra, mills till date produced 94 lt of sugar (55.85 lt). Compared to 146 mills that operated in 2019-20, 188 mills crushed sugarcane this season. While 48 completed crushing, 140 are still crushing, ISMA said in a statement.