India’s Sugar Industry

This PIB backgrounder provides a detailed overview of India's sugar industry, its value chain, and recent price trends. India is noted as the world's second-largest sugarcane producer, supporting nearly 5 crore farmers and 5 lakh workers. Sugarcane production reached 500 MMT in 2025–26, with cultivation across 58.87 lakh hectares, led by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The government has set the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) at ₹365/quintal for the 2026–27 sugar season. The document analyzes the role of the sugar sector in ethanol blending—clarifying that ethanol diversion has decreased and that most ethanol now comes from grains like maize—and examines the short-term surge in sugar prices driven by crop diseases (Red Rot and Top Borer), weather damage, global supply tightening, and hoarding. To counter this, the government has imposed stock limits, permitted duty-free import of raw sugar, and advised early crushing.