Maharashtra to rope in more mills to crush cane

India’s top sugar producing state, Maharashtra, plans to press into service 20 additional sugar mills in new season beginning from October 1 to ready for an expected 22 per cent jump in cane availability, two government officials and one industry official told Reuters.

The state government took the decision after assessing cane availability in the state in a meeting with all stake holders on Sunday, the three officials, who attended the meeting, said.

“For 2010-11 we are estimating availability of 75.2 million tonnes of cane. To crush this cane government has decided to start 20 sugar factories, those were not functional last year,” a senior official at state’s Sugar Commissionerate office said on Monday.

“This is a conservative estimate. Actual cane supplies may be higher than this, if weather remains conducive.”

The state has about 190 mills, mostly co-operative, and in 2009-10 only 143 were operational, while the rest remained closed due to financial problems and lower supplies of cane.

The government plans to operate 163 mills in 2010-11 season and for the additional 20 mills, the state government will stand as a guarantor for bank loans, the officials said.

source: BS