India's sugar output up

Sugar output in India's top producing Maharashtra state rose by 10.9 percent to 2.45 million tonnes in the first three months of 2010/11 season that began on October 1, a government official told Reuters on Monday. Maharashtra crushed 24.4 million tonnes of cane in October-December 2010, up 15 percent on year, as more factories crushed cane this year, Anil Bansode, joint director at the state's sugar commissioner's office, said.
Average sugar recovery rate, which was around at 8 percent in October beginning increased to 10 percent by the end of the quarter, though still lagging last year's 10.49 percent.