India's sugar production fell by 15 per cent to 14.67 million tonnes so far in the 2016-17 marketing year that started in October last due to lower cane output in Maharashtra and Karnataka on account of drought. The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) had last month revised sugar production estimates downward to 21.3 million tonnes in the 2016-17 marketing year (October-September) from its earlier projection of 23.4 million tonnes. Sugar production of India, the world's second largest producer after Brazil but the biggest consumer, stood at 25.1 million tonnes in the 2015-16 marketing year. On the demand, ISMA said sugar sold by mills across the country from October 2016 to January 2017 have declined by 0.75 million tonnes compared with the corresponding period of the 2015-16 marketing year. "The trend of lower sales noticed from October 2016 has continued even in January 2017. One has to wait to see whether the trend of lower off-take will continue or get reversed in February 2017," ISMA said. According to the ISMA data released on Friday, sugar output dropped to 14.67 million tonnes as on February 15, 2017 of the 2016-17 marketing year from 17.33 million tonnes in the year-ago period. "Of the 483 sugar mills that started crushing operations in 2016-17 sugar season, 191 mills have closed their operations. About 80 per cent of the mills in Maharashtra and 95 per cent of mills in Karnataka have closed," ISMA said in a statement.