Indian Sugar Mills Close Operations Early: Trade Body

Mumbai: Cane scarcity has forced Indian sugar mills to close operations ahead of normal schedule and more than 100 factories have stopped crushing, a trade body said on Wednesday.

In the 2015-16 marketing year, 513 sugar mills had started operations, but 107 mills stopped crushing by February-end.

Only 13 mills had stopped crushing by February-end last year, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said in a statement.

Indian sugar mills produced 19.95 million tonnes between October 1 and February 29, slightly higher than last year's 19.56 million tonnes in the same period as crushing started a few weeks in advance this year.