In a much-needed relief to the sugar industry, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Tuesday decided to provide an additional subsidy of Rs 200 per ton for the excess sugarcane crushed after May 1. This was necessitated as nearly 19.52 lakh tonnes of sugarcane from 18 districts is yet to be crushed. The government will bear an additional burden of R 100 crore.
The decision was taken at the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as some cooperative and private sugar factories are still functioning to crush the standing sugarcane. The government expects crushing of 52 lakh tonnes from May 1 until the completion of the crushing season. Of which as of date, 32 lakh tonnes have been completed. Today’s subsidy is in addition to a subsidy for transportation of sugarcane and reduction in sugar recovery recently approved by the state cabinet.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the CM directed that the sugar factories will remain operational till the entire sugarcane is crushed in the ongoing crushing season of 2021-22. Sugarcane production has increased in the state this year and the area under sugarcane is 2.25 lakh hectares more than the previous season.
In the crushing season 2021-22, sugarcane will be available on a total area of 13.67 lakh hectares against 11.42 lakh hectares in 2020-21. The area under sugarcane is 2.25 lakh hectares more than the previous season. Also, by the end of May 16, 2022, 1300.62 lakh tonnes of sugarcane have been crushed by 100 co-operatives and 99 private sugar mills. The government expects 163 sugar factories will conclude the crushing by May 25 while 36 sugar factories will continue crushing till May 31 due to excess sugarcane. The state government expects a record of sugar production of 133 lakh tonnes after the completion of the ongoing crushing season 2021-22.
The crushing capacity is about 55,920 tons more per day than last year. On the same day last year, 1013.31 lakh tonnes of crushing were reported. The current year saw an increase in crushing of 287.31 lakh tonnes. Beed, Jalna, Ahmednagar, Latur and Osmanabad districts have the highest cane surplus.
Today’s decision came days after the state cabinet last month approved a subsidy for the transportation of sugarcane and a reduction in sugar recovery. As per the cabinet decision, a Rs 5 per km transport subsidy will be given except for a 50 km distance as laid down by the sugar Commissionerate for the earmarked sugarcane for an individual sugar factory. The government will give Rs 200 per ton subsidy to cooperative and private sugar factories if the sugar recovery slips below 10 per cent. This will be given for crushing sugarcane after May 1.
