Ethanol supply target may dip in Maharashtra; only 6 out of 210 sugar mills working
Due to a drastic drop in per-hectare cane yield and a reduction in sucrose content in the crop, the state will see a serious decline in sugar production.
With only six of the 210 registered sugar mills being operational in Maharashtra due to a drastic drop in per-hectare cane yield and a reduction in sucrose content in the crop, the state will see a serious decline in sugar production, unable to meet its ethanol supply target.
New estimates by cooperative and private millers show that Maharashtra’s contribution during the ethanol supply year (December 2022 to November 2023) will be 127 crore litres, much below its target of 132 crore litres.
Besides, according to them, the state will produce just about 105-106 lakh tonnes of sugar against the previous estimates of 120-22 lakh tonnes. Earlier, in July-August 2022, buoyed by good rain and increased area under cane, the Maharahtra Sugar Commissioner’s office had estimated the production at 138 lakh tonnes.
However, as on Sunday, only six mills – one each in Pune, Solapur, Osmanabad and Beed, and two in Jalna – are operational. So far, mills in the state have crushed 1,051.30 lakh tonnes of cane and produced 104.88 lakh tonnes of sugar.
Last week, in a meeting chaired by the secretaries of food and public distribution, as well as petroleum, it is learnt that the industry expressed its inability to fulfil contracts of ethanol for the last two-quarters of the Ethanol Supply Year 2022-23.
Sanjay Khatal, managing director of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation confirmed to The Indian Express that there would be a shortfall in ethanol production.
On whether this shortfall in Maharashtra will affect the 12 per cent ethanol blending target for fuel this year, Aditya Jhunjhunwala, president of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), expressed hope that the target would be met as many sugar millers have set up grain-based distillers.
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