Mumbai, Sep 19 (FN Agency) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday that the state ranked third in the world in sugar production and announced that this year’s crushing season will start from October 15. Presiding over a meeting of the Ministerial Committee held at Sahyadri guest house here, he said area under ??sugarcane cultivation in the state has increased and sugarcane cultivation for this season is about 14.87 lakh hectares. Average sugarcane production is expected to be 95 tonnes per hectare this year, he informed. Around 203 sugar factories will start production in this season, the Chief Minister informed further and said it is estimated that 13.8 lakh tonnes of sugar will be produced this year. There were 137.36 lakh metric tonnes of sugar production in the state last season, surpassing Uttar Pradesh, he said and congratulated Maharashtra for being third in the world in terms of sugarcane production this year.
This year’s crushing season is expected to be of 160 days on average and the FRP (fair and remunerative price) for sugarcane sieving this year will be 10.25 per cent of Rs 3,050 per metric ton, he said. At present there is 60 lakh metric tonnes of sugar stock in the country, Shinde informed and said of which, Maharashtra has 30 lakh metric tonnes of sugar. This year, it is estimated that 100 lakh metric tonnes of sugar will be exported from India, of which Maharashtra’s share is 60 lakh metric tonnes, he stated. Also, Maharashtra has 35 per cent share in ethanol production in the country, he added. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar, Ports Minister Dadaji Bhuse, Cooperation Minister Atul Save, Sugar Sangh member and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Ajit Pawar, MLA Balasaheb Patil, Sangh president Jayaprakash Dandegaonkar, Harsh Vardhan were present at the meeting.