Mills across the country produced 29.98 mln tn of sugar between Oct 1 and Apr 15. The association has not released the figures for sugar output in the corresponding period last year. The country had produced 20.3 mln tn of the sweetener in 2016-17 (Oct-Sep). As on Apr 15, of the 523 sugar mills in the country, 227 were still operational, including 50 in Maharashtra, one in Karnataka, and 105 in Uttar Pradesh.