Jaggery from Uttar Pradesh adding sweetness to the markets across the country

New Delhi| The business of jaggery in Muzaffarnagar, the major producer of jaggery in the country, is continuously moving towards growth. The annual business of jaggery has almost doubled in the last four seasons. Muzaffarnagar market is the largest market of jaggery in the country. According to the traders of Mandi Committee, business worth Rs 4500 crore is being done annually from Muzaffarnagar itself. Murarilal Aggarwal of Mahalakshmi Enterprises, a firm based in Surajpol Mandi, Jaipur, says that this season, more than 50 varieties of jaggery made from different districts of Uttar Pradesh are being sold in the market. He said that although jaggery is still made in the old way, its packing, quality and new methods of buying and selling have made it hi-tech too. Aggarwal said that in western Uttar Pradesh, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut and Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly of Awadh have been making jaggery from decades. But now jaggery has started being produced on a large scale in many other districts of the state. A lot of crushers are running in districts like Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Gonda, Basti, Ambedkar Nagar and Hardoi. Yogi Adityanath government has included the jaggery of Ayodhya in the special category. For this reason the jaggery industry is also providing a lot of employment.

Murarilal said that the prices of jaggery have not increased much in the last two years, but the demand has increased rapidly. This season, good quality jaggery is being sold in bulk at Rs 42 to 48 per kg in Jaipur Mandi. Traders are doing many types of experiments in jaggery and it is being sold in the market in attractive packing. Jaggery Dhaiya is being sold in bulk in Jaipur Mandi on Tuesday for Rs 40 to 48, Patasi for Rs 41 to 43 and Lad Du Jaggery for Rs 43 to 46 per kg. Five trucks of jaggery are arriving in Jaipur Mandi every day. On the other hand, jaggery production has been encouraged in the Khandsari policy in Uttar Pradesh. Under the new policy, arrangements have been made to grant licenses to Khandsari units within 100 hours. Due to these efforts, 35000 crushers run in Muzaffarnagar during the season days. At present, more than 70000 crushers are running in Uttar Pradesh. Four years ago even half of it did not work.