Early crushing to shore up sugar supplies before Diwali

Pune: A quarter of Maharashtra's sugar mills will begin crushing sugarcane this week, a month ahead of schedule, to boost domestic supplies before Diwali, as sugar prices rise amid shrinking availability and farmers intensify protests for higher cane prices.

Sugar prices have risen about 4% in the past fortnight, while standing cane is wilting across large areas, raising concerns over crop losses. Freshly produced sugar is expected to reach markets in about a week, said millers.

"It takes at least about four to five days for sugar to get ready for dispatches to the markets after the crushing operations commence. We expect the new sugar to start reaching markets after October 20," said BB Thombare, president, West Indian Sugar Mills Association, which represents private sugar mills from Maharashtra.


The Centre had advised sugar producing states to advance the cane crushing operations to increase sugar availability during the festive period.

For the fortnight beginning October 15, the government has allocated a quota of 1.6 million tonnes. "However, prices have firmed up as there is not much sugar with the mills," said a miller from Maharashtra, who did not want to be identified.

Some administrative clearances and a farmers' agitation have delayed the commencement of the mills' operations from the scheduled date of October 15.

"As of Wednesday, about 10 mills had started crushing operations, while a total of 45 mills are expected to begin operations by the end of this week. We expect a total of about 80 to 100 sugar mills to get crushing licences this week," a senior state sugar official said on condition of anonymity.

According to preliminary estimates, the state government expects a decline of about 10% in sugar production in the 2026-27 season compared to last year's production of 9.9 million tonnes. However, the fall in sugar production could be higher as large quantities of sugarcane are being diverted for fodder and towards jaggery units, said industry insiders.

"As the standing cane in large areas of Marathwada has started wilting, the farmers are in a hurry to harvest their sugarcane," said Thombare.

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana from Maharashtra and farmers' organisations from Karnataka have intensified their 'rasta roko' (traffic blockade) campaign on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border demanding a higher price for sugarcane, higher minimum selling price (MSP) for sugar and higher price of Rs 70 per litre for the C-heavy molasses-based ethanol.

The Sangathana has also demanded a sugarcane rate of Rs 5,000 per tonne, including a Rs 500 per tonne government subsidy. "Farmers are going to suffer losses by advancing the crushing operations because the sugar content in the immature sugarcane is less, making them eligible for a lower sugarcane price," said Shetty.

Sugar mills in the districts along the Maharashtra-Karnataka border account for nearly 50% of the country's sugar production, according to Shetty.