Sources said that the sugar mills in Maharashtra will begin crushing only after Diwali festival and State elections. They said that mills will start operating in the 1st week of November.
Sugarcane cultivation this year was affected due to severe drought in the Marathwada region and many farmers were forced to sell their cane as fodder. The recent floods in western Maharashtra that includes Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur have damaged sugarcane tracts.
Experts from the Industry have predicted that not many sugar mills will be able to finish crushing season using their full potential due to lack of sugarcane. In the last season, 195 sugar mills in the state crushed 952 lakh tonnes of sugarcane to produce 107 lakh tonne sugar with 11.26% extract. However, an equal number of sugar mills had failed to begin crushing.
Since the crushing season is deferred in Maharashtra, sugar mills bordering Karnataka are worried that mills in the neighbouring State could take away sugarcane from the region. The sugar industry accounts for an annual revenue of over Rs. 2,000 crore to the government.
The shorter crushing season would have a direct impact on growers, sugarcane cutters & sugar traders. Around 2.5 crore people in rural Maharashtra depend very much on the sugar season for income. The sugarcane industry gives direct employment to nearly 1, 65,000 workers, besides 8 lakh workers who are involved in harvesting as well as transport operations, for 6 months.
