Sugar output up 42% at 39 lakh tonnes in Oct-Nov: ISMA

New Delhi: India's sugar production has gone up by 42 percent to 39.51 lakh tonnes in the first two months of the current 2017-18 marketing year that started October, industry body ISMA said on Tuesday.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has pegged 251 lakh tonnes (lt) sugar output this year as against 202 lt in the last year.

Releasing the latest production figures, ISMA said sugar production during October-November reached 39.51 lt, much higher than 27.82 lt in the year-ago period.

As many as 443 mills were operating till November this year as against 393 mills in the year-ago period.

As per the ISMA data, sugar production in Uttar Pradesh - the country's leading sugar maker, rose to 13.59 lt till November from 8.48 lt in the year-ago period.

Similarly, the output in Maharashtra - the second biggest producer - increased to 14.90 lt from 9.42 lt in the said period.

In Karnataka too, sugar production rose marginally to 6.82 lt in October-November as against 6.80 lt in the same period last year.

Gujarat mills produced 1.80 lt till November of this year when compared with 1.42 lt in the same period last year.

"Crushing operations in all the other states have also begun and slowly the pace of crushing is picking up," ISMA said.

Other states together produced 2.40 lt in October- November as against 1.7 lt in the year-ago period.

"Most of the sugar mills in UP had advanced their date of start of crushing by a fortnight or so, and hence sugar production is on higher side," the industry body said.

The current year started with an opening balance of around 38.76 lt, which is the lowest ever in the last several years.