Maharashtra sugar mills likely to crush 74% more cane

The sugar year has commenced in Maharashtra and mills are likely to crush about 650 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, which is about 74 per cent higher than last year’s 373 lakh tonnes, industry sources said.

In the State, the sugar year usually commences on November 1. Senior officials at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation Ltd, also known as Sakhar Sangh, said that last year, the area under sugarcane was 6.33 lakh hectares, which has risen to 9 lakh hectares this season.

The total volume of sugarcane available in the State will be about 720 lakh tonnes, but 650 lakh tonnes will be sent for crushing and sugar manufacture, while the remaining 70 lakh tonnes would be procured by jaggery and cattle-feed units.

The mills in the State are expected to produce about 72-73 lakh tonnes of sugar. Last year, sugar production was around 41.88-lakh tonnes, with a recovery rate of 11.24 per cent, the officials said.

Officials pointed that last year the cane acreage was much lower because during the preceding two years, the State was reeling under drought. This year, crop was affected by white grub insects, but good rains in October mitigated its impact.

Officials said that the sugar recovery percentage is expected to be between 11 and 11. 25 per cent. The State has 191 private and cooperative sugar mills, out of which 113 have been issued licences by the Sugar Commissioner of Maharashtra. Those mills that did not hold back the past dues of sugarcane-growing farmers were given licences faster.