Comments
Sugar production in Maharashtra during the 2012 crushing season is pegged at 89.5 lakh tonne (lt).
The crushing is expected to be completed by May 15, as only 15 of the 170 mills (including 51 private factories) that were operational this year are still running, Mr Harshavardhan Patil, Maharashtra Minister for Co-operation and Parliamentary affairs, has said.
By the end of the current season 770 lt sugarcane will be crushed, translating to a recovery rate of 11.62 per cent which is higher than 11.3 per cent last season, he added.
This year, the use of harvesters has expedited sugarcane cutting, contributing to an earlier close of the crushing season. The State Government's subsidy of Rs 25 crore for the purchase of harvesters this year is being extended and a grant of Rs 50 crore has been sanctioned for the 12-13 season, Mr Patil said, adding, “Around 7-8 per cent of harvesting was done by machines this year. We want to take this to a level of 25 per cent.”
This year, the government has permitted 63 sugar factories to produce electricity and 1,000-1,200 MW may be generated. The State Electricity Board will purchase this power at the rate of Rs 4.79 a unit.
Next year projection
“The area under cultivation has dropped to 9 lakh hectares from 10.22 lakh hectares. Our primary estimates suggest that sugarcane production will stand at 700 lt and sugar production at 80 lt,” he said.
A more precise forecast will be made by the end of June.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.