New Delhi : Sugar production in the country crossed a record 31 million tonnes mark this year and the total production will be around 32 million tonnes when the season ends, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Thursday.

“Till April 30, sugar mills have produced 31.03 million tonnes of sugar in the current season. With 130 sugar mills still operating, majorly in Uttar Pradesh, it is expected that sugar production during the current season might end up between 31.5-32 million tonnes,” it said in a statement.

According to ISMA, sugar mills in Maharashtra produced 10.65 million tonnes till April 30 and barring 15 mills all others in the state had ended their operations.

“As regards Uttar Pradesh, they have produced 11.2 million tonnes of sugar till April 30 and 80 out of 119 sugar mills are continuing their crushing. Some of these mills are closing fast, whereas few are expected to continue crushing till the second week of May 2018,” it said.

In Karnataka, all the sugar mills have stopped their operations and they produced 3.63 million tonnes during the current season.

“Sugar production in Bihar, Punjab and Haryana during the current season has reached record levels in their history at 0.71 million tonne, 0.8 million tonne and 0.72 million tonne respectively. While all mills in Bihar have stopped crushing, a few mills in Punjab and Haryana are still operating,” it said.

In Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the production was 1.09 million tonnes and 0.71 million tonnes respectively. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana collectively produced 0.53 lakh tonnes.

—IANS