Mills across the country have produced 19.73 million tonne sugar during Oct 1-Apr 19, down 18.1% from a year ago. The output from the mills was 24.10 mln tn in the year-ago period. Lower output in the ongoing season can be attributed to the shutting down of cane crushing operations earlier than usual in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Mills in these states shut cane-crushing operations early as cane supplies had been hit due to drought in last few years. Expecting sugar output to touch 20.3 million tonne (this season) as some mills in Uttar Pradesh and several other states are still operating. Government still maintains its official estimate for sugar production at 22.5 million tonne.