Sugar Mills Pay Rs 8,126 cr to Farmers

Sugar mills have paid Rs8,126 crore to sugarcane farmers in the first 70 days of the ongoing 2024-25 sugar season. Sugar mills have paid Rs 8,126 crore to sugarcane farmers in the first 70 days of the 2024-25 season, with Rs 3,015 crore pending. Karnataka has the highest outstanding dues. In the previous 2023-24 season, out of total cane dues of Rs1,11,674 crore, approximately Rs1,10,399 crore has been paid, leaving only Rs1,275 crore outstanding as of December 13 effectively clearing 99 per cent of the dues. India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world. Approximately 80% of the world's sugar is processed from sugar cane in tropical and subtropical climates with the remaining 20% acquired from sugar beet, which is grown mostly in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) projects gross sugar production at 34.0 million MT, with net production at 32.3 million MT for Sugar Year (SY) 2024 after ethanol diversion and a ban on exports.