India's 2026-27 sugarcane crushing season has started much faster than last year: 152 mills had crushed 105.43 lakh tonnes of cane and produced 8.45 lakh tonnes of sugar by 31 October, according to a state-wise report of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), Rural Voice reported. On the same date last year only 31 mills were running, with 11.84 lakh tonnes of cane crushed and 1 lakh tonnes of sugar made.
The early start is mostly Maharashtra's doing. The government had urged mills to begin crushing early to improve domestic sugar supply, and 123 of the state's mills were running by 31 October, crushing 91.14 lakh tonnes of cane for 7.20 lakh tonnes of sugar. But the state's average recovery, the share of sugar obtained from cane, was only 7.90%, well below normal.
Karnataka was second, with seven mills crushing 8.33 lakh tonnes of cane for 80,000 tonnes of sugar and the highest recovery among the reporting states, 9.60%. Seven mills in Tamil Nadu crushed 4.71 lakh tonnes for 40,000 tonnes of sugar at 8.50% recovery, and 10 mills in Gujarat had processed 1.25 lakh tonnes for 5,000 tonnes.
The start was not smooth everywhere. Cane farmers protested in Maharashtra and Karnataka, opposing early crushing and demanding better cane prices and compensation for losses. In Uttar Pradesh, October rain disrupted harvesting and cane supply, and only three mills were running by 31 October against 10 a year earlier; more began crushing from 1 November.
Nationally, average recovery stood at 8.01%, down 0.43 percentage points from 8.44% a year earlier. That matters to growers because the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for 2026-27 is Rs 365 a quintal at a basic recovery of 10.25%, rising or falling by Rs 3.56 a quintal for every 0.1 point above or below it. Mills with recovery under 9.5% face no further cut, so their farmers receive at least Rs 338.30 a quintal.
The season opens amid worries about domestic sugar supply and rising prices. The government has imposed stockholding limits on dealers and bulk buyers, and allowed duty-free imports of 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar under a tariff rate quota, with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade extending the deadline for those imports from 31 October to 31 December 2026.
Photo: Shakher59 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Rural Voice
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