Overview
- ISMA reported on Friday that 184 sugar mills had started crushing for the 2026–27 season and production reached 12.85 lakh tonnes, up sharply from 3.20 lakh tonnes at the same time last year.
- Maharashtra is driving the early surge with 136 mills producing 10.78 lakh tonnes, making it by far the largest contributor to the current output.
- Other states have begun phased starts: 19 mills in Uttar Pradesh have produced 0.20 lakh tonnes with more western-UP factories expected to start in the next few days and central-UP slated after Diwali.
- Karnataka and Tamil Nadu continued limited operations from a prior special season and Karnataka is set to begin main-season crushing soon after farmer disputes were resolved.
- ISMA says the roughly 36 lakh tonnes of carryover stocks plus rising fresh output put the country in a comfortable position to meet domestic demand and that further production gains are likely as remaining mills come online.