According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association, in the current season, 520 mills started their operations so far against 510 mills which operated last season, as on 31st January’2023. On the corresponding date, 4 mills have closed their crushing operations in the current season, while 516 sugar mills were still operating in the country. However, in the last season 2021-22, 1 mill had closed its crushing operations and 509 mills were operating on the corresponding date.
The summary of sugar production vis a vis last year has been tabulated as below. The table also indicates state wise estimated sugar diversion towards production of ethanol upto 31st January’2023, for the current year as well as last year. In this way this table gives clear idea of actual sugar production in both the years with and without diversion into ethanol. The following table is self-explanatory:
| Sugar Production as on 31st Jan (In lac tons) | |||||||||
| Sl.No. | State | No. of Working Factories | Net estimated Sugar Production (without Diversion) | Estimated Sugar Diversion into ethanol upto 31st January | Actual Sugar Production (after Diversion) | ||||
| 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | ||
| 1 | Uttar Pradesh | 117 | 120 | 58.3 | 55.9 | 7.3 | 5.6 | 51.0 | 50.3 |
| 2 | Maharashtra | 199 | 194 | 81.1 | 78.1 | 7.3 | 5.2 | 73.8 | 72.9 |
| 3 | Karnataka | 73 | 72 | 46.5 | 43.6 | 7.1 | 4.8 | 39.4 | 38.8 |
| 4 | Others* | 127 | 123 | 30.2 | 25.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 29.3 | 25.1 |
| Total | 516 | 509 | 216.1 | 203.4 | 22.6 | 16.3 | 193.5 | 187.1 | |
| Difference | 7 | 12.7 | 6.3 | 6.4 | |||||
| *Others include -Tamil Nādu, Gujarat, A.P., Telangana, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, M.P., Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand & Odisha | |||||||||
(Note: Estimated sugar diversion towards production of ethanol is based on % of area harvested as obtained from satellite imagery and feed stock wise total allocated/supplied quantity of ethanol)
