The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra has gathered momentum. Sugar mills have crushed 375.71 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of sugarcane to produce 351.98 lakh quintal sugar by December 25, 2020.
Mills in Kolhapur division crushed the maximum (86.11 lakh MT) sugarcane, followed by Pune division (83.84 lakh MT) to produce 93.84 lakh quintal and 82.4Mills in Maharashtra crush 375 lakh MT cane; produce 351 lakh quintal sugar
4 lakh quintal sugar respectively.
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In Vidarbha region, Amravati and Nagpur divisions have only two and three sugar mills, that too privately-owned, operating this season. These mills have crushed 2.92 lakh MT and 0.75 lakh MT sugarcane to produce 2.34 lakh quintal and 0.59 lakh quintal sugar respectively.
Overall 178 sugar mills, including 90 cooperative and 88 private mills, have started the crushing season this year. The average extract rate achieved by mills is 9.37 per cent.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), current year production is about 19.30 lakh tonnes higher than the last year figure on the corresponding date (December 15). The higher production is because of the earlier start of crushing operations in Maharashtra and higher availability of sugarcane this season.