Mills across the country produced 25.81 mln tn of sugar during Oct 1-Mar 15, 47.1% higher than 17.55 mln tn produced a year ago. Of the 523 sugar mills in the country, 106 factories had wound up cane-crushing operations as on Mar 15. Of these, 31 are in Maharashtra, 48 in Karnataka, five in Uttar Pradesh and nine in Tamil Nadu. Mills in major producers Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka produced 8.44 mln tn, 9.38 mln tn, and 3.51 mln tn of sugar, respectively, during Oct 1-Mar 15. The country should export at least 2 mln tn of the sweetener in the year ending September and another 4-5 mln tn the next season, as output is expected to be higher in 2017-18 (Oct-Sep) as well as in 2018-19.