‘Sweet surplus’ in UP sufficient to meet the needs of the country for two months: State rejects claims of sugar shortage
Despite high prices across the country and speculation in the market, the state of Uttar Pradesh has a surplus of more than 28 lakh tonnes of sugar before the October crushing season begins.
LUCKNOW: The government of Uttar Pradesh and sugar mills operating in the state have asserted that there is absolutely no shortage of sugar domestically as UP has a huge stock of more than 28 lakh tonnes of sugar. Sources in the state government say that the surplus of sugar in UP is sufficient to meet the requirement of the entire country for two months or the requirement of the state for six to seven months.
This clarification comes after reports of rising retail prices of sugar in many states and also the latest move of the central government to import sugar for the first time in a decade.
Sugar Reserves Before the Start of New Crushing Season
According to Veena Kumari Meena, Additional Chief Secretary of Sugar Industries and Cane Development, the primary task of the state is to clear its existing stock in mills before the start of the new season of sugarcane crushing in October.
“We do not face any crisis in terms of sugar; we have surplus stock that will last till January and February next year,” Meena further said adding that the state has offered to transfer its surplus to the central pool to regulate the prices in scarcity regions.
According to data provided by the UP Sugar Mills Association, sugar consumption in the region amounts to 4 lakh tonnes per month. In the opinion of representatives of the association, there were no shortages in sugar production and the reason for the rise in prices was speculation in the market.
Trends in Production and Ethanol Utilization
Despite the fact that UP still has large quantities of stocks, sugar production in UP has been gradually decreasing and in 2025-26 amounted to 89.52 lakh tonnes compared to 92.45 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 and 104.13 lakh tonnes in 2023-24.
However, it should be mentioned that the decrease in production was not due to the increase in the implementation of the biofuel program in the region and had to do with decreased productivity of sugarcane due to the occurrence of diseases.
Despite the record utilization of ethanol in UP, which has reached 225 crore liters in 2025-26, only 8 to 9 percent of all sugarcane was utilized for ethanol production.
