Maharashtra sugarcane crushing surges 8x year-on-year
Kolhapur division continues to lead the State, with its 30 operational factories crushing 29.61 lakh tonnes (lt) of cane and producing 25.32 lakh quintals of sugar
Maharashtra’s sugarcane crushing season for 2025–26 has picked up pace, with 147 mills crushing 117.27 lakh MT of cane as of November 19, according to the latest report from the state sugar commissioner.
Kolhapur division continues to lead the State, with its 30 operational factories crushing 29.61 lakh tonnes (lt) of cane and producing 25.32 lakh quintals of sugar. The division has recorded the highest recovery so far at 8.55 per cent. Pune division follows, where 23 mills have crushed 27.57 lt and produced 21.94 lakh quintals, yielding a recovery of 7.96 per cent.
In Solapur division, 32 factories have crushed 27.38 lt of cane and produced 18.51 lakh quintals of sugar, with a recovery of 6.76 per cent. Ahilyanagar division’s 21 factories have crushed 14.71 lt and produced 9.75 lakh quintals, recording a recovery of 6.63 per cent.
Faster space
State-wide sugar production has reached 8.68 lakh tonnes, and the overall recovery stands at 7.4 per cent. Industry officials expect output to rise further as more mills move toward peak crushing capacity.
The season has begun at a faster pace compared to last year, when only 91 mills were operational by this time and had crushed 13.5 lt of cane to produce 0.57 lakh tonnes of sugar. This year, with a higher crop available, mills have accelerated operations. A few mills that are yet to commence full-scale crushing due to opposition from farmers’ organisations over unpaid FRP dues are expected to meet the sugar commissioner along with farmer representatives to resolve the issue.
MSP hike
Meanwhile, the industry has welcomed Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi’s assurance that the Centre will examine the long-pending demand to revise the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar. The MSP has remained unchanged at ₹31 per kg since February 2019, while the industry has been seeking a hike to ₹40 per kg to offset rising production costs.
National Federation of Sugar Cooperative President Harshwardhan Patil said that revising the MSP would benefit both mills and farmers.
Published on November 20, 2025
