Maharashtra mills together might produce a record 13.6 million tonnes (mt) of sugar this season as the crushing will continue till May-end. About 4 mt of sugarcane is still standing on the fields and 130 harvesters are in operation to cut the excess crop. 

The State government has announced grant to sugar mills to crush the excess cane. As of now, the majority of the uncrushed sugarcane is in Marathwada region. Mills are likely to crush 130.7 million tonnes of sugarcane by the end of this season. 

Industry players say the State government’s assistance to mills has played a major role to convince mill directors to crush all the available sugarcane in the locality. 

ISMA data

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), sugar production in Maharashtra till April 15, 2022 was 12.65 mt compared with 10.39 mt produced in the same period a year ago. In the current sugar season, 45 mills have reportedly closed their crushing operations in the State and 153 sugar mills are operating . During the corresponding period a year ago, only 54 mills were in operation in the State, which went on to add another about 2.55 lakh tonnes of sugar production last year.