Tejas Navale

Pune: Cooperative and private sugar mills in the state have collectively completed a remarkable 1066.86 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane crushing during this year's sugarcane harvesting season, surpassing last year's total by 12 lakh 95 thousand metric tonnes. As of today, April 19, nine more sugar mills are still operational, continuing the ongoing sugarcane harvesting season.

Despite fewer sugar mills starting operations compared to last year, there has been a significant increase in sugarcane crushing, sugar production, and sugar extraction. This surge in productivity has resulted in an impressive rise in sugarcane refinement.

Last year, a total of 1053.91 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane crushing was completed by this date. This season, the average sugar yield stands at 10.25 percent, a notable increase from 10 percent last year. Consequently, there has been a 0.25 percent rise in sugar production this year.

During the ongoing sugarcane crushing season, a total of 207 sugar mills initiated operations, comprising 103 cooperative and 104 private factories, according to the state's sugar commissionerate report released on Thursday (18th). Among the regions, Kolhapur division has maintained its lead in sugarcane crushing since the beginning, recording the highest crushing figures so far.

Area-wise completion of sugarcane crushing (in Lakh Metric Tonnes) stands as follows:

Kolhapur: 241.07 lakh MT
Pune: 236.33 lakh MT
Solapur: 218.08 lakh MT
Ahmednagar: 140.7 lakh MT
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: 98.44 lakh MT