Uttar Pradesh surpasses Maharashtra in sugar production this season

The total sugar produced by Uttar Pradesh in the sugar season 2022-2023 is 107.29 lakh tonnes (which includes 3.05 lakh tonnes of Khandsari (physically extracted sugar from liquid jaggery), as compared to 105.30 lakh tonnes by Maharashtra. The area under cane cultivation in Uttar Pradesh is 28.53 lakh hectares (maximum in India) as compared to 14.87 lakh hectares in Maharashtra," said UP's Cane Development and Sugar Mills' minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary

Uttar Pradesh has surpassed Maharashtra in sugar production in the current season even as 118 sugar mills operated in UP during the period compared to 210 mills that were operational in the western state. UP's Cane Development and Sugar Mills' minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary told PTI, "UP is ahead of Maharashtra as far as production of sugar is concerned along with a number of other factors." 

Elaborating further, Chaudhary said, "The total sugar produced by Uttar Pradesh in sugar season 2022-2023 is 107.29 lakh tonnes (which includes 3.05 lakh tonnes of Khandsari (physically extracted sugar from liquid jaggery), as compared to 105.30 lakh tonnes by Maharashtra. The area under cane cultivation in Uttar Pradesh is 28.53 lakh hectare (maximum in India) as compared to 14.87 lakh hectare in Maharashtra." 

The sugarcane-crushing season runs from October to June. 

"The sugarcane production in UP has been 2,348 lakh tonnes, while in Maharashtra it was 1,413 lakh tonnes," Chaudhary said. 

He added that total cane crushed by sugar mills in UP in the 2022-2023 season was 1,084.57 lakh tonnes, whereas it was 1,053 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra. 

"Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath jee, in the last six years, the sugarmills have made a payment of Rs 2,11,700 crore (to the farmers). In the tenure of the previous governments, 12 sugar mills were sold, while 18 sugar mills were shut down. After coming to power, we have opened new mills and increased the capacity of some mills," Chaudhary said. 

Sharpening his attack on the previous governments, Chaudhary said, "The payment made to cane farmers during the Bahujan Samaj Party regime (from 2007 to 2012) was Rs 93,000 crore, while in the Samajwadi Party government (from 2012 to 2017), it was about Rs 95,215 crore." 

The cane development minister said that the UP farmers' earnings from all other crops is almost equal to the amount they get in their bank account by selling just sugarcane.