 "Conditions for sugar mills to avail subsidy eased")
Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh have accelerated their cane crushing operations, notching up production volumes that are already seven times the output achieved during the previous 2015-16 crushing season.
Against a production of 107,000 tonnes of sugar last year, the state mills have already produced 757,000 tonnes of the sweetener so far.
Meanwhile, 100 mills have started crushing operations in the state against 50 units last year, during the same period.
The mills have crushed nearly 7.8 million tonnes of cane this season, against 1.17 million last year, placing the sugar recovery percentage at 9.71 per cent and 9.19 per cent respectively. Sugar recovery is the ratio of sugar produced per unit of cane; a higher percentage indicates higher sugar output.
According to estimates, UP mills are likely to crush nearly 75 million tonnes of cane and produce over 7.6 million of sugar during 2016-17, against 6.85 million tonnes last year.
Sugarcane is a major cash crop in UP, with over four million rural households engaged in cane farming. UP and Maharashtra are India’s top sugarcane and sugar producers, contributing to 50 per cent to India’s annual production.
Private mills dominate the sugar sector in UP, with 92 out of a total of 117 mills. The cooperative sector has 24 mills, while UP State Sugarcane Corporation Limited (UPPSCL) controls one.
In backdrop of the UP government's announcement of a hike of Rs 25/quintal in cane price to Rs 305/quintal, the value of cane procurement by mills is likely to exceed Rs 22,500 crore.
This would be 25 per cent more than the value of cane payables clocked by all 117 UP sugar mills during the previous 2015-16, standing at Rs 18,000 crore.
Meanwhile, UP cane commissioner Vipin Kumar Dwivedi has warned mills of strict action if they fail to functionalise all cane procurement centres allotted to them. The district cane officers have been directed to identify such non-functional centres.
