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Mills unlikely to advance sugar crushing season
Most sugar mills are unlikely to start crushing 15 days early despite industry bodies promising the government they would, ET reports. The main obstacle is a shortage of migrant labour, which is…
The Story in Brief
Most sugar mills are unlikely to start crushing 15 days early despite industry bodies promising the government they would, ET reports. The main obstacle is a shortage of migrant labour, which is typically available only around Diwali in November. Sugar prices have already risen 6.5 per cent in a month to Rs 50.7 per kg, prompting government measures including stock limits and export bans.
The Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association and the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories had proposed starting the 2026-27 season 10-15 days early to ease supply ahead of the festive season. Early crushing could hurt sugar recovery because immature cane has lower sucrose, but mills have asked for compensation for such losses.
The Indian Opinion
The industry's promise of an early crush sounds good on paper, but the labour shortage is a stubborn reality that no incentive can fix overnight. Claims that mechanised harvesting can fill the gap ignore India's dependence on seasonal migrant workers. The real test is whether mills actually start crushing by mid-October. If not, the government must answer: how will it ensure sugar prices stay stable without pushing mills into a loss-making early start? Watch the labour availability in the first week of November.
Sources (2): livemint.com, economictimes.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
