The National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) has said that India’s sugar production increased by 7.70% to 27.39 million tonnes as on April 15, 2026 in the 2025-26 season, compared to 25.43 million tonnes in the year-ago season, mainly due to higher output in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The sugar season runs from October to September.

According to NFCSF, output in Maharashtra rose 23% to 9.92 million tonne as on April 15, as against 8.06 million tonne a year ago. The output in Karnataka also rose 16.70% to 4.71 million tonne from 4.04 million tonne. However, the production in Uttar Pradesh declined about 2% to 8.92 million tonne year-on-year.

The average sugar recovery was higher at 9.55% till April 15 of this season as against 9.37% a year ago. The sugar output so far has surpassed total 26.2 million tonne achieved in 2024-25 season. Out of 541 mills that operated, the crushing operation was on in 21 mills, while the rest were closed.