Sugar turns bitter: Cargill India tries to get right sugar production data in Maharashtra.

PUNE: Cargill India is currently exploring alternative ways to get reliable data about sugarcane and sugar production estimates for the country's largest sugar producer, Maharashtra, according to sources.

The company had to bear losses in some of its sugar deals due to sugar production going wrong, especially for Maharashtra, said trade sources. "Cargill representatives met us to talk about how to get accurate estimate of sugar production for the state," said a source from Maharashtra government. There was no confirmation from Cargill despite repeated attempts to contact them.

As the 2013-14 sugarcane crushing season in top producer Maharashtra is just a month away, the state government is still giving out a projection of 74 lakh tonne sugar production, lower by 5% than the expectation of industry.

"Availability of sugarcane is less by about 20% this year. We will be able to crush 645 lakh tonne sugarcane and produce 74 lakh tonne sugar," said state cooperation minister Harshvardhan Patil, at a recent press conference.

The state government officials informally accept that the sugar production can touch 78 lakh tonne, close to the estimate of industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). Maharashtra's sugar production estimates have gone wrong time and again.

In August 2012, the state government had projected production of 63 lakh tonne sugar in 2012-13 due to diversion of sugarcane for use as fodder in the drought-hit regions. However, the actual production was higher by 26.6% at 79.8 lakh tonne. "Sometimes the estimates are deliberately kept low. Last year, projections of lower sugar production had helped firming up of domestic sugar prices," said an industry source.

Similarly, when the retail sugar price had become Rs 50/kg in 2009, the country's sugar production estimates went hey wire. It led to the government taking policy decision of duty free import of sugar.

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had openly blam-ed wrong reporting of sugarcane area estimates to be responsible for wrong policy decisions.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com