Sugar production
India is projected to produce about 36 million metric tons of sugar in the market year 2022/2023. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh was the leading sugarcane producer followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. Sugar in India is basically produced from the sugarcane crop. First, the sugar crop is crushed, and the juice is extracted and separated from the plant residue. Following that, the juice is boiled until it forms a thick syrup and undergoes a crystallization process. Eventually, the raw sugar crystals are centrifuged to remove any juice or syrup. There are about 464 sugar factories responsible for sugar production across the country.Sugar consumption
It is not surprising that India is one of the major sugar-consuming nations. Consumption of ice cream, baked goods, confectionery, mithai (Indian sweets), and processed food and beverage items, all of which use sugar as a main ingredient, has significantly increased, helping to restore consumer product demand. Therefore, the overall sugar consumption volume was 29 million metric tons in 2022. As a result of this, India also ranked second with the highest number of diabetics worldwide.Sugar varieties
Sugar, gur, or khandsari are all products made from sugarcane in different Indian provinces. However, there are four major categories of sugar products produced worldwide which are brown sugar, granulated sugar, liquid sugar, and invert sugar. Historically, the main source of sugar in our diet has been unrefined sugar.Jaggery (Gur) is a traditional sweetener produced from sugarcane in rural regions of India. It is a good source of vitamins and minerals and is commonly used in tea and Indian desserts. Khandsari (khand) on the other hand is an unrefined raw sugar that is a regional specialty and is a healthier alternative to white sugar.
