Meerut Sugar Mills Kick Off Crushing: Mawana & Daurala Operational

Bringing seasonal economic momentum and festive cheer to hundreds of thousands of farming households across western Uttar Pradesh, the annual sugarcane crushing season for 2026–27 has officially commenced across major manufacturing facilities in Meerut district. Three of the district’s premier production units—Mawana Sugar Mill, Daurala Sugar Mill, and the Bajaj Hindusthan-run Kinauni Sugar Mill—have fired up their boilers, activated weighing scales, and begun processing freshly harvested cane. At Mawana, the inauguration was held with ceremonial religious rituals led by Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Jal Shakti Dinesh Khatik alongside senior mill executives, administrative officials, and farmer representatives. The opening day at Mawana witnessed an extraordinary agricultural turnout, logging roughly 30,000 quintals of sugarcane arrivals on day one—marking the heaviest opening supply recorded by the unit in over a decade.MoS Dinesh Khatik Inaugurates Mawana Crushing After Traditional PujaThe launch of operations at Mawana Sugar Mill commenced early Friday morning amidst festive enthusiasm. Factory administrators, cane department staff, and local farmer delegations gathered around the primary cane carrier platform for a traditional Vedic ceremony conducted by priest Pandit Prem Upreti. Following the conclusion of the prayers seeking an accident-free, productive manufacturing period, Chief Guest and Minister of State for Jal Shakti Dinesh Khatik formally inaugurated the operations by dropping the inaugural bundle of sugarcane into the mechanical cane carrier chain. He was joined in the ritual by Mawana Sugar Mill Managing Director R.K. Gangwar, General Manager (Sugarcane & Administration) Pramod Baliyan, the District Cane Officer, and Mawana Sugarcane Cooperative Committee Chairman Vinod Kumar Bhati. Continuing the long-standing agricultural custom of honoring early suppliers, the dignitaries felicitated local farmer Abdul, who delivered the very first bullock cart loaded with harvest to the weighing bridge (dharamkanta), presenting him with a ceremonial shawl and sweets.Record Arrivals: 30,000 Quintals of Cane Delivered on Opening DayThe 2026–27 crushing campaign kicked off with unprecedented supply volumes at Mawana. Mill security officer Manish Pandey confirmed that approximately 30,000 quintals of sugarcane arrived at the facility's yard and purchase centers within the first few hours of operations. Mill officials highlighted that such heavy arrival numbers had not been recorded on an opening day in nearly 11 years, reflecting swift harvesting across nearby agrarian villages following optimal weather conditions. Technical evaluations conducted by quality control personnel indicated high sucrose content and clean, disease-free crops. To handle the initial influx smoothly, the mill management has commissioned its first milling plant, with engineering teams finalizing calibrations to make the secondary processing plant fully operational over the coming days as harvesting gathers pace across outer tehsils.Daurala and Kinauni Mills Fire Boilers: Three Units Now ActiveMawana's opening coincides with the activation of other key processing hubs across Meerut’s agrarian belt. Daurala Sugar Mill also commenced its 2026–27 crushing cycle on Friday after completing dedicated religious ceremonies attended by corporate leadership, technical engineers, and regional cane growers, followed by the formal feeding of cane into its modern crushing lines. The twin launches on Friday followed the operational rollout at Kinauni Sugar Mill, which had ignited its boilers and initiated trial crushing a day earlier on Thursday. With three of the district's six functional sugar mills now running at full capacity, the remaining units—including Mohiuddinpur and Sakoti—are finalizing their boiler trials and pre-crushing maintenance audits, with full operational integration expected before the close of next week.District Economy: Western UP's Cane Lifeline Transitions into High GearSugarcane cultivation forms the bedrock of the rural economy across the Upper Doab region, supporting hundreds of allied livelihoods ranging from harvest labor to tractor trolley transportation and jaggery production (kolhus). The prompt commencement of crushing operations across Meerut provides immense operational relief to growers who need to clear their fields quickly to sow rabi winter crops, particularly high-yielding wheat varieties. Prompt operations at designated cooperative cane society centers ensure that registered growers receive timely computerized purchasing slips (parchis) via the state's digital E-Ganna platform, curbing middleman exploitation and keeping weight measurement transparent. With local administration issuing strict directives to mill owners regarding statutory 14-day payment settlement cycles, the smooth rollout of crushing is poised to inject significant liquidity into rural markets during the ongoing festive cycle.Modernization and Green Energy: Transforming Sugar Mills into Bio-Energy HubsBeyond crystalline white sugar production, the active crushing season in Meerut powers significant green energy and byproduct processing. Facilities like Mawana and Daurala have integrated high-pressure co-generation power plants that burn leftover sugarcane bagasse to generate clean electricity, feeding surplus megawatts into the state transmission grid. In addition, their advanced distillery units utilize molasses to produce fuel-grade anhydrous ethanol under the central government’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) program. By converting agricultural harvest into green energy, green chemical feedstocks, and organic bio-fertilizer press mud, Meerut’s operational mills serve not only as agricultural lifelines but also as vital drivers of rural industrial sustainability and clean fuel self-reliance across Uttar Pradesh.