It’s a bitter pill that the sugarcane producers in Maharashtra may have to take for the second year in succession. After a glut of production sparked a series of suicides in the state last year, the spectre is looming large again with the production for the coming season slated to touch 845 lakh tonnes, up from 798 lakh tonnes last year.

In a bid to tackle the possibility of a glut, the state government has decided to operationalise 175 mills compared to 163 last season. The crushing season, which started in November last year, will see an early start this year, by the second week of October.

“The total sugarcane production in Maharashtra has gone up to 845 lakh tonnes and the final output of sugar is expected to go up to 96 lakh tonnes compared to last year’s 91 lakh tonnes,” said Rajgopal Deora, the state sugar commissioner.

The glut in production last season left over 30 lakh tonnes sugarcane spread over 52,000 hectares uncrushed, which was followed by dozens of suicides in the Marathwada region. The state government offered financial assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare for the uncrushed cane that put the burden of Rs 132 crore on the state coffers.

The state Government has extended guarantees worth Rs 106 crore for 46 mills to help them start with the crushing on time. The crushing will start in the sugar bowl of western Maharashtra, followed by Marathwada and other regions in the state. “The cane production is up by about 50 lakh tonnes and we will ensure that all cane is crushed to avoid the crisis like last year,” said Deora.

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