Sugar output to remain flat at 310 lakh ton in 2021-22
Cane area in Karnataka is slightly higher in 2021-22 at 5.22 lakh hectare as against 5.01 lakh hectare in 2020-21
2-year moratorium for weak sugar mills as per guidelines to restructure SDF loans
New Delhi: India's sugar production is estimated to remain flat at around 310 lakh tonnes in the next marketing year starting October on higher diversion of cane juice for ethanol manufacturing, according to industry body ISMA.
Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. The total area under coverage for sugarcane is estimated to be around 54.55 lakh hectares in 2021-22 marketing year, which is about three per cent higher than the cane area of around 52.88 lakh hectares in the current year, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.
In the current 2020-21 marketing year, sugar production has touched 307 lakh tonnes so far and about two lakh tonnes more sugar is expected to be produced in the special season in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This will take the total sugar production in 2020-21 to about 309 lakh tonnes. "...after accounting for the reduction in sugar production due to diversion of cane juice and B-molasses to ethanol, ISMA estimates sugar production in 2021-22 at around 310 lakh tonnes of sugar," ISMA said.
This will be similar to the current year's sugar production, it added. The association has estimated that the diversion of cane juice and B-molasses to ethanol will reduce sugar production by about 34 lakh tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, as compared to about 21 lakh tonnes estimated to be diverted in the ongoing marketing year.
