Challenges Persist in India's Sugar Sector Despite Technological Advances
Tech advances yet to fix uneven mill performance, data gaps in sugar sector: Food Secretary
The Economic TimesImage: The Economic Times
Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary of the Department of Food & Public Distribution, highlighted ongoing inefficiencies in India's sugar mills, including uneven sugar recovery rates and underutilized data. Despite a 9% increase in sugar production for the 2025-26 season, operational mills have decreased significantly, indicating a need for improved processes and real-time data utilization.
- 01India's sugar output increased by 9% for the 2025-26 season, reaching 272.31 lakh tonnes.
- 02Operational sugar mills have dropped from 95 to 56, indicating severe industry challenges.
- 03Inefficiencies in the sugar value chain lead to significant output gaps and losses.
- 04The government's ethanol blending program has saved nearly ₹1.65 lakh crore in crude oil costs.
- 05Stakeholders urge the government to raise the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar to improve mill viability.
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Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary of the Department of Food & Public Distribution, addressed persistent challenges in India's sugar sector during the ISMA SugarNxt Conference. Despite a 9% rise in sugar production for the 2025-26 season, reaching 272.31 lakh tonnes, the number of operational mills has sharply decreased from 95 to 56. This decline underscores significant inefficiencies, including variations in sugar recovery rates (10.5–10.9%) and underutilized data systems, which hamper decision-making and operational efficiency. Chopra emphasized that optimizing processes across the sugar value chain could reduce losses by 0.2-0.3 percentage points, enhancing overall industry performance. He also noted the importance of timely cane crushing and better field-level planning to improve yields. The government's 20% ethanol blending program has led to savings of nearly ₹1.65 lakh crore, showcasing the potential of policy support. However, industry stakeholders, particularly in Maharashtra, expressed concerns over financial stress due to high cane costs and urged the government to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar to ensure mill viability.
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The decline in operational sugar mills and ongoing inefficiencies could lead to reduced sugar availability and financial stress for farmers and mill operators.
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