IN SHORT: Maharashtra so far produces 20 percent less sugar in 2011/12

India's top sugar producer Maharashtra has so far produced 20 percent less sugar than at the same point last year as cane crushing faced delays over a cane price dispute, an industry official said. Crushing momentum has now picked up, however, after farmers and millers agreed on cane pricing, said the official at the Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories Foundation, who declined to be named.
So far 116 mills in the state are operating out of over 160 expected to produce, and have churned out 311,000 tonnes of sugar compared with 390,000 tonnes a year ago, the official said. A tussle between farmers and sugar millers over cane price prompted mills in the state to postpone commencement of the 2011/12 season. The Indian sugar year runs from October-September. The first instalment is usually paid within a fortnight of buying cane from farmers.