Sugarcane crushing in Maharashtra, India's leading sugar-producing state, has gained momentum since its commencement on November 15. By December 9, 115.42 lakh quintals (11.54 lakh tonnes) of sugar had been produced from crushing 146.23 lakh tonnes of sugarcane. However, the average recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane remains low at 7.96%, which is expected to improve as the season progresses.

In various regions of Maharashtra:

• Pune Division: 30.01 lakh quintals of sugar were produced from 37.69 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, with 27 mills operational.
• Kolhapur Division: 30.45 lakh quintals of sugar were produced from 33.22 lakh tonnes, with 34 mills operating.
• Solapur Division: 17.71 lakh quintals of sugar from 25.37 lakh tonnes, with 29 mills active.
• Ahmednagar Division: 13.84 lakh quintals of sugar from 18.90 lakh tonnes, with 20 mills running.

In Nanded Division, 13.60 lakh quintals of sugar were produced from 16.92 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in 26 mills, while Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar produced 8.64 lakh quintals from 12.55 lakh tonnes in 17 mills. The Amravati Division produced 1.17 lakh quintals from 1.56 lakh tonnes across two mills.

Despite the increased crushing activity in both cooperative and private sugar mills, the recovery rate remains below expectations, especially in certain regions where it stayed under 7.5%. However, the sugar industry expects these recovery rates to improve as the crushing season continues and more mature sugarcane is processed.