Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today informed Parliament that the country's overall sugar output was unlikely to decline this year on account of slow pace of cane crushing in some states.
"The initial slow pace of production by sugar mills in some states is unlikely to decrease production of sugar in the current sugar season as a whole," Pawar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.
Of the total 600-odd sugar mills in the country, only 199 mills have started crushing operations in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka till November 15 of the current sugar season, which runs from October to September, according to official data.
Pawar said that unseasonal rains during the October- November period of the 2010-11 sugar season have slowed down cane crushing activity in states like Maharashtra, the country's biggest sugar producing state.
However, the minister exuded confidence that "the mills are likely to make it up in the course of time."
After two years decline, sugar production in India, which is the world's second biggest producer, is estimated to be higher than demand at 24.5 million tonnes in the 2010-11 sugar season.
The country, which is the world's largest consumer of sugar, has an annual demand of about 23 million tonnes. Last year, the sugar output stood at 19 million tonnes.
