New Delhi: According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), during 2019-20 Sugar Season, 457 sugar mills started crushing operations as against 527 mills which operated last year i.e., 70 mills operated less this year.
215.82 lakh tonnes of sugar have been produced till 15th March 2020 as against 273.65 lakh tonnes produced last year by 15th March 2019.
As on 15th March 2020, 136 mills have stopped crushing and only 321 sugar mills in the country were crushing. As compared to that 173 mills had stopped operations last year as on 15th March 2019 and 354 mills were operating then.
In U.P., 119 sugar mills which were in operation, have produced 87.16 lakh tonnes of sugar till 15th March 2020. Out of 119 sugar mills, one sugar mill has stopped crushing operation. Compared to this, 117 sugar mills in the State were in operation last year and they had produced 84.14 lakh tonnes as on 15th March 2019. Mills in U.P. had started about 10-12 days earlier than last year, and, therefore, have produced slightly more than what they produced in the last season on 15th March. It is estimated that U.P. will be producing similar quantity of sugar as was produced last year at around 118 lakh tonnes.
In Maharashtra, sugar production till 15th March’ 2020 was 55.85 lakh tonnes, compared with 100.08 lakh tonnes produced last year same period. In the current 2019-20 SS, 56 mills have already closed their crushing operations in the State and only 90 sugar mills are operating. On the corresponding date in last season 101 mills had closed their operations while 94 mills were in operation. However, the daily rate of crushing in the current season is significantly lower than last year and the mills currently operating will be closing earlier than last year.
In case of Karnataka, till 15th March, 2020, 63 sugar mills have produced 33.35 lakh tonnes of sugar. Out of the 63 sugar mills, 50 mills have already closed their operations in the State and only 13 mills are in operation. During the corresponding period last year, 67 sugar mills had produced 42.45 lakh tonnes sugar. Of the 67 sugar mills, 56 had ended their operations and 11 mills were in operation as on 15th March 2019, last year. Considering the daily crushing are as of now in Karnataka and the special season in July – September, total of around 34 lakh tonnes of sugar is expected to be produced in the State.
In case of Tamil Nadu, Out of 24 sugar mills which operated this season, 1 sugar mill has ended its crushing (as against 3 mills which had closed last year out of 32 sugar mills). Till 15th March 2020, sugar production in the State was 4.12 lakh tonnes, compared with 5.54 lakh tonnes produced by 32 sugar mills on the corresponding date last year.
Gujarat has produced 7.78 lakh tonnes of sugar till 15th March 2020 with 12 sugar mills in operation. Last year, 9.80 lakh tonnes of sugar had been produced on the same date.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 18 sugar mills have produced about 4 lakh tonnes as on 15th March 2020, of which 11 mills have stopped crushing. Last year, 6.50 lakh tonnes was produced on the corresponding date and 22 mills were in operation as on 15th March 2019.
In Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, sugar production till 15th March, 2020 has been in the order of 6.38 lakh tonnes,3.22 lakh tonnes, 4.84 lakh tonnes, 4.89 lakh tonnes and 3.85 lakh tonnes, respectively.
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