Mumbai: India’s sugar production in the first two months of the 2025/26 season, which began on October 1, rose 43% from a year earlier, driven by better recovery rates and faster crushing across major producing states, leading industry bodies said on Tuesday.
The higher output is expected to allow the world’s second-largest sugar producer to export surplus supplies without risk of domestic shortages, although it could weigh on global prices.
Mills have produced 4.1 million metric tons of sugar by the end of November, up from last year’s 2.88 million tons, the Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said in a statement.
Production in the western state of Maharashtra, India’s biggest sugar-producing state, more than tripled from last year to 1.7 million tons, while it rose by 9% in northern state of Uttar Pradesh to 1.4 million tons, the ISMA said.
However, production in the southern state of Karnataka slipped to 774,000 tons from 812,000 tons a year earlier, as farmer protests demanding higher cane prices disrupted crushing operations.
The sugar recovery rate in the first two months of the season rose to 8.51% compared to 8.29% a year ago, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) said.
The sugar recovery rate, a key industry metric, measures the percentage of sugar extracted from the sugarcane stalks.
The government should allow an additional 1 million metric tons of sugar exports in the current season as lower sugar diversion for ethanol production is creating a larger exportable surplus, the NFCSF said.
India last month allowed exports of 1.5 million metric tons of sugar in the current season, although mills are struggling to secure export deals as global prices remain below domestic rates.
The ISMA has urged New Delhi to raise the floor price for sugar sales in the domestic market as it has remained unchanged for more than six years despite steadily rising production costs.