The recent surge in sugarcane costs in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand has pushed the pan-India average cost of sugar production to Rs. 41.72 per kilogram, the Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said on Monday. The industry has called for an upward revision of the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar, which has remained unchanged for over six years, to ensure fair returns for mills and timely payments to farmers.
Sugar production till 30th November, 2025 in the current 2025-26 sugar season reached 41.08 lakh tonnes, against 28.76 lakh tonnes produced last year on the corresponding date. Number of operating factories were also higher at 428 this year, against 376 Factories which operated last year on the corresponding date, ISMA data showed.
In Uttar Pradesh, sugar production has reached 13.97 lakh tonnes, higher by 1.17 lakh tonnes against last year as of end of November’2024. Maharashtra sugar mills have also outperformed last year performance on the corresponding date with 170 operating mills and sugar production at 16.95 lakh tonnes. Similarly, crushing operations in Karnataka has also caught pace despite early disruptions due to farmers agitations.
Field-level feedback points to healthier cane yields and better sugar recovery rates across key states versus last year, as sugarcane crushing gains momentum across the country.
ISMA also urged the Government to enhance the ethanol procurement price to reflect higher feedstock and conversion costs. The current allocation of only 289 crore litres of ethanol to the sugar sector for ESY 2025–26 — merely 27.5% of total allocations — has created a serious imbalance and left a large part of distillery capacity underutilised. To ensure optimum utilisation and long-term stability, ISMA has requested that ethanol allocation to the sugar industry be made in line with the NITI Aayog’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Roadmap, which emphasised 55% contribution coming from the sugar sector.
