More Stories

Informist, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

 

--Sugar joint secy: See next year to be sugar surplus year as well 
--Sugar joint secy:See mills making timely payments to farmers this year too 
--CONTEXT: Joint Secretary-sugar Ashwini Srivastava speaking at a conference 
--Sugar joint secy: See total sugar production at 34.3 mln tn for 2025-26
 

NEW DELHI - India is expected to remain a surplus sugar producer in the sugar season 2026-27 (Oct-Sept) as well amid expectations of strong sugarcane output, Ashwini Srivastava, joint secretary (sugar), Department of Food and Public Distribution, said Monday at the second Millet Maize DDGS (Distillers Dried Grains Solubles) Ethanol conference in Gurugram. .

 

For the ongoing 2025-26 sugar season, India's gross sugar production is estimated at 34.3 million tonnes, Srivastava said. This is in line with the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers' Association estimate of 34.35 million tonnes for the current season, up from 26.10 million tonnes last year. Srivastava said mills are estimated to divert 3.4–3.9 million tonnes of sucrose or sugar for ethanol production, leaving the country with surplus stocks that need to be managed through exports. 

 

With the 2025-26 season opening with a carry-over stock of 5.0 million tonnes, the total sugar availability at the end of this season is seen at 35.9 million tonnes. India needs only 28.5 million tonnes of sugar for domestic consumption.

 

Last month, the government had announced an export quota of 1.5 million tonnes of sugar for the 2025-26 season. Srivastava urged mills to take advantage of the export window open till September as soon as competitive parity emerges, noting that surplus conditions are likely to persist next year as well.

 

Srivastava said the combination of ethanol diversion and export opportunities has created an additional revenue stream for sugar mills, enabling them to pay sugarcane farmers on time this year as well.

 

He noted that maize has emerged as the single-largest feedstock for ethanol supplied to oil marketing companies, accounting for about half of the volumes in 2024-25 and the share is expected to rise to around 60% in the current supply year.  End

 

Reported by Pallavi Singhal and Afra Abubacker

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.