Pune: Sugar production in Maharashtra has crossed 108 lakh tonnes in the 2023-24 season, as of April 7, 2024, according to a report by the state’s sugar commissionerate. This is higher than the production of 105.23 lakh tonnes in the previous season during the same period.
A total of 207 sugar mills participated in the crushing season this year, including 103 cooperative and 104 private mills. The Kolhapur region has topped in terms of cane crushing, sugar production, and recovery. Pune, Solapur, and Ahmednagar are in the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively.
In the Kolhapur region, a total of 40 sugar mills participated in the crushing season, including 26 cooperative and 14 private mills. The crushing season has been completed in 39 sugar mills in the division so far, and only one mill is still operating.
So far, 240.72 lakh tonnes of cane have been crushed in the Kolhapur region, and 278.6 lakh quintals of sugar have been produced. The average recovery in the Kolhapur region is 11.57 per cent.
Across Maharashtra, 1059.18 lakh tonnes of cane have been crushed so far. As of April 7, 2024, 1084.73 lakh quintals (108.47 lakh tonnes) of sugar have been produced in the state.
In the previous season, 211 sugar mills had participated in the crushing by this time, and they had crushed 1053.91 lakh tonnes of cane to produce 1052.38 lakh quintals (105.23 lakh tonnes) of sugar.
In the current season, 178 sugar mills have closed crushing so far in Maharashtra, compared to 211 sugar mills that had closed crushing by April 7 in the previous season. There has also been a marginal increase in sugar recovery this season. The sugar recovery in the state is 10.24 per cent as of April 7, 2024, in the 2023-24 season, compared to 10.00 per cent at this time in the previous season.
