Sugar production in the country decreased by eight per cent to 24.34 million tonnes till April 15 this year, as over two-thirds of the sugar mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka downed shutters due to drought, according to a top industrial body.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the country produced 24.34 million tonnes of sugar till April 15 in the current crushing season (October 2015-September 2016) against 26.47 million tonnes during the year-ago period.
Crushing operation
Nearly 117 mills were carrying out crushing operation during this period against 245 mills, depicting the precarious situation. As of March 15, 2016, 325 sugar mills were operating in the States against 473 mills in the year-ago period.
Almost 189 sugar mills had already closed their operations out of which 31 were in U.P, 91 in Maharashtra, 36 in Karnataka, 10 in Bihar and the rest in States such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand.