Maha sugarcane crushing season to start from October 20: CM

The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra will start from October 20, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced here Tuesday.

He said the government would review the common recommendations of sugar associations and take appropriate decision.

Fadnavis Tuesday chaired a meeting to review sugarcane cropping season, in which cabinet ministers Chandrakant Patil, Pankaja Munde, Subhash Desai, Subhash Deshmukh and others were present.

The Chief Minister said the recommendations of West Indian Sugar Mills Association (WISMA) and the state co-operative bank will be discussed as per the Central government's policy and other relevant factors.

Sugar Commissioner Sambhaji Kadu Patil said 321.03 lakh tonnes of sugar was produced in the country last year of which Maharashtra accounted for 107.10 lakh tonnes.

It is to be noted that the fair and remunerative price (FRP) is Rs 275 per quintal for 10 per cent basic sugar recovery and Rs 2.75 per quintal for 0.1 per cent of 10 per cent onwards for the crushing season 2018-19.

According to the Essential Commodities Act 1955 and the Sugar Cane Control Order 1966, the Centre has kept sugar rates fixed at Rs 2,900 per quintal and GST at 5 per cent.