Mumbai: The sugarcane crushing season 2023-24 in Maharashtra is scheduled to start on November 1. A high-powered ministerial committee headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took a decision on this on Thursday along with various other issues related to the industry. CM Shinde also directed that sugar mills do not start sugar mills before the scheduled date.
The committee, which convened on Thursday, addressed several pertinent issues related to the industry.
In a presentation delivered by the sugar commissioner, it was stated that Maharashtra has reported the cultivation of sugarcane across nearly 14 lakh hectares, with an estimated 1,022 lakh tonnes to be crushed by the mills. The government estimates that the state would produce 88.58 lakh tonnes of cane which the industry said can be revised based on the ground situation later. This season, the state would see a drastic reduction in production from the last season’s 105.6 lakh tonnes. It is estimated that 15 lakh tonnes of sugar would be diverted for production of ethanol.
