UP sugar mills demand abolition of molasses quota for distilleries

Private millers lament industry subsidising Rs 350 crore to liquor manufacturers

Ahead of the next sugarcane crushing season in Uttar Pradesh, with their factories holding nearly 13 million tonnes (MT) of molasses inventory, private millers have urged the Uttar Pradesh government to abolish the system of reserving molasses for state distilleries producing county liquor.

In a letter to the state government, the millers have strongly opposed reservation of molasses, claiming it is a vital byproduct and the revenue generated by it contributes towards sugarcane payments to farmers.

Molasses is a cane byproduct generated during sugar production. Its recovery is pegged at about 4.75 per cent of crushed cane. Molasses is processed to make