India's Sugar Production Drops 12% To 197 Lakh Tonnes

India's sugar production fell 12% to 197 lakh tonnes till February 15 of the current marketing year ending September mainly due to lower output in Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to industry body ISMA data. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. The data of sugar production is after diversion of sweetener for ethanol making.

In a statement on Monday, Indian Sugar and Bio Energy Manufacturers Association said that sugar production till Feb. 15th, 2025 in the current 2024-25 marketing year reached 197.03 lakh tonnes as against 224.15 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the preceding year. Among states, ISMA data showed that sugar production has fallen in Uttar Pradesh to 64.04 lakh tonnes from 67.77 lakh tonnes.

In Maharashtra, the production has dipped to 68.22 lakh tonnes from 79.45 lakh tonnes, while the output in Karnataka fell to 35.80 lakh tonnes from 43.20 lakh tonnes during the period under review.

As per ethanol supplies data up to Jan. 31, ISMA said that sugar diversion towards ethanol is estimated around 14.1 lakh tonnes against a diversion of around 8.3 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.