Government Cuts 2015-16 Sugar Output Estimate: Report

New Delhi: The government has lowered its sugar output estimate by 1.4 per cent from a previous forecast, an official source said on Tuesday, potentially boosting prices and helping money-losing mills after six straight years of surplus production.

India is expected to produce 25.64 million tonnes of sugar in the cane crushing season that began in October 2015 as a second year of drought cut cane yields in the world's second-biggest producer of the sweetener after Brazil.

The revised estimate was arrived at after a meeting of officials from key producing states, the source said.

Maharashtra, the country's top cane growing state, is seen producing 8.5 million tonnes of sugar while the output in Uttar Pradesh is expected at 7 million tonnes, while southern Karnataka state is likely to produce 3.7 million tonnes, the sources added.

Indian sugar prices have surged nearly 10 per cent since January and a fall in domestic production will give a fillip to already high global prices.