Sugar output in Maharashtra, the country?s largest producing state, will likely hit a record 9.4 million tonne in the marketing year starting October 1 due to higher cane crushing as well as favorable weather, a senior industry executive said on Wednesday.
Maharashtra, which crushed around 81 million tonne of sugarcane in 2010-11, produced 9.07 million tonne of sugar during the year. The state alone produces around one-third of the country?s annual sugar output.
?We are expecting the production to go up in 2011-12 as good monsoon rains will help cane yield. Plus, cane production will be higher this year. Although some areas have received heavy rains recently, there is no adverse impact on the crop,? said Vinay Kumar, the managing director of the National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories.
Sugarcane crushing in the state is expected to start from October 15, Kumar said. The crushing usually continues up to June each year, although sugar recovery from cane starts declining after April.
To boost cane crushing in 2010-11, the state government had provided a cane transport subsidy of INR3 per tonne for every kilometre, instead of the earlier practice of offering incentives only to those mills that were at least 50 km away.
Mills crushing cane after May when cane yield was usually less also got some more subsidies during the year.
Rise in output from Maharashtra will push up the country?s sugar production and boost chances of exports in 2011-12.