Lucknow, Mar 29 (IANS): To boost production of hand sanitizers, the Uttar Pradesh government has given permission to 24 sugar mills to manufacture the same.

There is a major shortage of the product in the wake of the coronavirus that is spreading across India.

According to the government spokesman, of the 119 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, 29 had sought permission from the state government to manufacture alcohol-based sanitizer.

Among the 25 mills that have got the nod, five are in Bijnor district.

The initiative will help to boost revenue of the sugar industries. Alcohol is produced from molasses, a residue of sugarcane after sugar is extracted from cane juice. Hence, these mills will have the raw material to produce sanitizer.

Additional cane commissioner V K Shukla said, "The demand for sanitizers has skyrocketed since the Corona virus scare gripped the nation. There is a huge demand-supply gap in the market which will be reduced with this decision."

These 24 units will start producing sanitizer from Sunday.

Officials said that the Barkatpur mill in Bijnor alone is expected to produce around 5,000 litres of sanitizer per day.