The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra is gaining momentum, with 175 sugar mills having received licenses to start operations as of late November 2024.

The process was initially delayed due to the assembly elections, as over 75 mill owners were involved in the election, with some winning and others losing. Now that the election process is complete, sugarcane crushing has picked up pace.

Maharashtra is the largest sugar producer in India, and a total of 207 sugar mills applied for crushing licenses for the current season.

Out of these, 175 mills have been granted licenses, while 9 are still under consideration, and 12 failed to meet necessary conditions and were asked to reapply.

Notably, private sugar mills are ahead of cooperative mills in obtaining licenses. So far, 92 private sector mills and 83 cooperative sector mills have received crushing licenses.

By November 25, 2024, 65 mills had started crushing, including 29 cooperative and 36 private mills. This number is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

The earlier concerns about delays due to the government's failure to increase the price of ethanol and the ex-factory minimum selling price of sugar have largely been resolved, contributing to the renewed activity in the sugar mills.