Maharashtra has produced 1,052.78 lakh quintals of sugar this year, down by 222.52 lakh quintals as compared to the previous year, when it had witnessed a record production of the sweetener, an official has said.
State sugar commissionerate published its final report, in which it mentioned these figures. The sugarcane crushing as well as sugar production in the state, which had begun in October-November last year, has now drawn to a close.
According to the final report published by the commissionerate on 16 April, though the number of sugar factories and the sugarcane crushing capacity of the state rose this year, the sugar production slumped. A total of 210 sugar factories across the state were involved in sugar production as compared to 199 last year.
The crushing capacity of 210 companies reached 8,84,950 metric tonnes. This capacity was 8,28,650 metric tonnes in the 2021-22 season. Although the crushing capacity of the state was high, the total crushing of sugarcane in Maharashtra went down this season.
Last year, 199 sugar factories had crushed 1,223.42 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane, while this year 210 factories in Maharashtra crushed 1,054.75 lakh metric tonnes, the report said. Last year, the state had broken another record of crushing 1,320.31 lakh tonnes of sugarcane.