Sugar production in India: Sugar production in India has declined to 111.80 lakh tonnes in 2023, compared to 121.20 lakh tonnes produced in the same period last year, the latest number by the Indian Sugar Mill Association (ISMA) showed on Thursday. However, the number of operating factories rose from 509 in 2022 to 512 in 2023.
States sweet bond with sugar In Uttar Pradesh, sugar production jumped from 30.87 lakh tonnes in 2022 to 34.35 tonnes in 2023, and the number of factories also went up from 117 to 120 in 2023. Uttar Pradesh is the only state where the production of sugar has gone up. Barring UP, almost in every state sugar production has gone down. Maharashtra registered a sugar production of 38.20 lakh tons in 2023, against 46.78 lakh tons in 2022.
The number of factories also witnessed a decline from 196 to 195 in 2023. Karnataka was no different, sugar production witnessed a decline to 24.02 lakh tonnes, as compared to 26.70 lakh core in 2022. In Karnataka, the number of factories remained constant at 73.
Similarly, Gujarat’s sugar production remained fairly stable at 3.70 lakh tonnes with 16 functional sugar factories in 2023. In Tamil Nadu, sugar production went down from 2.62 lakh tons in 2022 to 2.23 lakh tonnes in 2023.
Declining sugar production
The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) in its preliminary projections for the 2023-24 sugar season (SS), forecasts sugar production at approximately 337 lakh tonnes, a decline of around 8 per cent from the estimated 366 lakh tonnes for 2022-23. This gross sugar production for 2023-24 SS without considering diversion towards ethanol shall be sufficient for domestic consumption, ISMA stated.
As per ISMA, based on the satellite images procured in the latter part of June 2023, the total acreage under sugarcane in the country is estimated to be around 57 lakh hectares in the 2023-24 sugar season.
