India’s sugar production rose 7.32 percent to 27.52 million tonnes so far in the 2025-26 marketing season, driven by higher output in Maharashtra and Karnataka, industry body ISMA said. India’s sugar output stood at 25.64 million tonnes in the year-ago period (till April 30). The sugar marketing season runs from October to September.

Biggest sugar producers 

According to the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA), Maharashtra, the country’s largest sugar-producing state, saw production climb to 9.92 million tonne from 8.09 million tonne, while Karnataka’s output rose to 4.80 million tonne from 4.04 million tonne.

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Uttar Pradesh, however, saw the output falling to 8.96 million tonnes from 9.24 million tonnes a year earlier. ISMA projected total production for the 2025-26 marketing season at 29.3 million tonnes after ethanol diversion, up from 26.12 million tonnes recorded in 2024-25.

Large-scale mill closure

ISMA said that milling activity has sharply wound down, with only five factories still operational compared with 19 at the same point last year. All mills in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have closed for the main season, though some Karnataka units will operate in a special season from June-July 2026.

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Mills in Tamil Nadu will also continue through the special season, with the two states historically contributing around 500,000 tonnes during that period.

Sugar MSP and payments activity

As the season draws to a close, the industry has pressed for an early revision of the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for sugar, citing rising production costs and subdued ex-mill realizations that are putting pressure on mill cash flows and fuelling cane payment arrears.

In Maharashtra alone, cane payment arrears stood at Rs 2,130 crore as of mid-April, nearly triple the Rs 752 crore recorded in the year-ago period.

The industry also urged the government to advance ethanol blending targets beyond the current E20 program towards higher blends such as E25 and E85/E100, backed by a faster rollout of flex-fuel vehicles and rationalized goods and services tax rates.

ISMA flagged underutilization of distillation capacity due to delayed revisions in ethanol procurement prices, saying prompt price revisions were essential to improve capacity utilization and provide policy certainty to investors.  

Sugar share price movement

Among the major sugar-producing companies, Balrampur Chini Mills’ stock has grown about 5 percent in the last one month. E.I.D. Parry (India), another major sugar producer, has seen a close to 5% jump in its share price over the last month. Shri Renuka Sugars’ share price has also climbed 4.7 percent in the last one month.