India, Sept. 8 -- Sugar industries from Maharashtra's border districts, mainly Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, and Latur, have demanded permission to start the crushing season earlier this year to prevent sugarcane from being diverted to factories in neighbouring Karnataka.

For the past few years, Karnataka's sugar mills, which begin their crushing season earlier, have been procuring large quantities of cane from Maharashtra's border regions. With higher crushing capacity but lower cane production, Karnataka mills prefer to source cane from districts in western Maharashtra and Marathwada. As a result, factories in Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, and Latur face cane shortages, forcing them to close their crushing operations earlier than expected. ...