MUMBAI: While the new sugar crushing season is all set to begin on Saturday, 26 sugar factories in the state are yet to clear dues worth Rs 176 crore owed to cane farmers.“We have issued notices to the factories asking them to complete payment. If they do not, we will not issue them licences for the new crushing season,” said state sugar commissioner Sambhaji Kadu Patil.Private sugar factories are at the top of the defaulters’ list. These include New Phaltan factory in Satara which owes Rs 48 crore and Jai Mahesh factory in Beed which owes Rs 26 crore. Solapur-based Matoshri Laxmi factory owes Rs 23 crore.Kadu Patil, however, said that payments had picked up after the Centre declared a package for the sugar industry. Maharashtra’s cane arrears are less than 1% of its total dues to farmers, he said. “Of the 26 factories, 14 have paid up to 95% of their dues. Only seven factories have paid less than 90% of their dues,” he added.The glut in sugar production in the country and internationally in 2017-18 had led to a slide in prices. In June, the Centre announced a Rs 7,000 crore package for the sugar sector. This included fixing the base price of sugar at Rs 29 per kg and incentivising exports.However, there is growing concern about next year’s sugar output projections, which are even higher. The industry body, Indian Sugar Mills’ Association, has projected an increase of 8.5-10% in production next year. The output is expected to grow from 322 lakh tonnes this year to 350 to 355 lakh tonnes next year, according to ISMA.However, state officials estimate that sugar production in the state is unlikely to cross its all-time high of Rs 107.8 lakh tonnes in 2017-18. “We are expecting sugar production in the coming season to remain about the same. This is because of the drought in parts of the state which will affect production. Also, there has been in a pest attack in some regions which will also affect output,” said Kadu Patil.

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