Mumbai, Nov 12 – Maharashtra’s government unveiled a new incentive program to reward top‑performing sugar factories, both cooperative and private. The move aims to boost quality and sustainability across the state’s sugar industry.
Each year, six factories will earn an award: three cooperatives and three private mills. The plan was formalised in a government resolution that sets the assessment criteria. Sugar mills will be measured on nine key points, including:
* Consistent payment of the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to farmers for three straight years (15 points)
* High sugar recovery rates
* Incentives for farmers who produce more per hectare
* Use of artificial intelligence in operations
* Broad land coverage
* Low carbon emissions and high carbon credit generation
* Timely repayment of government loans
* Employee limits and fair salary distribution (5 points each)
* Accurate financial management (10 points each)
A two‑tier committee will decide the winners. The Screening Committee, led by the Sugar Commissioner and the Joint Director of Sugar in Pune, reviews all proposals. It includes divisional directors, a Vasantdada Sugar Institute representative, a member of the sugar federation, and two independent experts in economics, engineering, or agriculture. A Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of Cooperation, with the Deputy Secretary of the Cooperation Department, finalises the shortlist with the Sugar Commissioner.
The government has yet to set the prize amounts. The initiative follows Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s earlier announcement that the 2025‑26 sugarcane crushing season will start on November 1, after a delay caused by heavy rains and floods.
During the same meeting, the state also earmarked two charges on sugar mills: ₹10 per tonne of sugarcane for the CM Relief Fund and ₹5 per tonne to support flood‑affected farmers. These measures aim to build resilience after last year’s climate‑related losses.
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