Availability of 280 lakh tonnes of sugar for domestic consumption in the current sugar marketing season (October 2024 to September 2025) is at a comfortable level, said the Indian Sugar and Bio Energy Manufacturers Association on Tuesday, allaying fears of shortage in availability of sugar in the domestic market.
Domestic sugar consumption between October 2024 and January 2025 was 91.6 lakh tonnes as against the domestic sales quota of 92 lakh tonnes. While the average monthly consumption is 22.8 lakh tonnes, it will be slightly higher at 23.5 lakh tonnes a month during summer and festival season.
Almost 38 % of sugar mills are continuing operations and crushing is expected to continue in Uttar Pradesh till April. The sugar mills in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will see another round of production in June-July, it said.
In January, the association said the net sugar production (after diverting 37.5 lakh tonnes for ethanol) will be 272.5 lakh tonnes. Following a review of the sugar production recently, the ISMA said that after diverting 35 lakh tonnes for ethanol, the total production will be 264 lakh tonnes. Combined with the 80 lakh tonnes of carry over stock from the last sugar season, the total availability is 344 lakh tonnes. About 10 lakh tonnes will be exported and the closing stock on September 30, 2025 is expected to be 54 lakh tonnes.
Favourable weather conditions has resulted in higher cane planting, especially in Maharashtra and Karnataka, giving hope for on time crushing for the 2025-2026 marketing season.
“Further, in Uttar Pradesh and other northern states, efforts to replace cane varieties are already showing promising results. This is expected to boost yields and recovery rates, contributing to robust sugar production next season,” the Association said.
As of mid-March 2025, nearly 80% of cane payments for the current season have been cleared. Additionally, 99.9% of cane payments for the 2023-24 season have been completed. The decision of the government to permit 10 lakh tonnes of sugar exports has provided the industry with a financial buffer, it said.
Published – March 19, 2025 08:39 pm IST
