New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) India accounts for more than 70 per cent of global jaggery production and has seen jaggery exports rise 106.5 per cent in value between 2015–16 and 2024–25, the government said on Saturday.

Exports during April–January 2025–26 reached 450.1 metric tonnes, valued at $384.4 million, up about 16.5 per cent in volume and 15.9 per cent in value on a year-on-year basis, an official statement said.

Complementing this growth, government initiatives such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana, PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme, and One District One Product, along with GI tagging, contributed significantly to promote value addition, strengthen rural enterprises, and enhance export potential.

Major export destinations included Indonesia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Nepal, the statement noted.

Domestic demand for natural sweeteners has also increased, the government said, adding jaggery and honey recorded a compound annual growth rate of 15–20 per cent during 2021–24.

Jaggery sales in domestic markets had reached approximately 5,000 metric tonnes annually by August 2024, indicating growing consumer preference for traditional and natural sweetening products.

Nearly 20–30 per cent of the country’s sugarcane output is diverted towards jaggery production, supporting around 2.5 million rural livelihoods.

India’s jaggery sector is supported by substantial sugarcane production, with total sugarcane output estimated at 444.9 million tonnes (MT) in 2024-25 period.

Uttar Pradesh contributed 48.5 percent of total production, followed by Maharashtra at 24.1 percent and Karnataka at 10.5 percent. Other producing states include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.

With the continued expansion of this sector, jaggery variants such as cane jaggery, palmyra jaggery, and raw jaggery are progressively gaining market presence.

Jaggery retains most of the nutrients present in sugarcane juice, making it one of the most nutritionally rich natural sweeteners. It retains minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese that are lost in the intense refining for white sugar.

—IANS

aar/pk