UPDATE 1-India's Maharashtra to begin cane crushing from Oct 15

(Updates with quotes, details)

MUMBAI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - India's western state of Maharashtra, the country's largest sugar producer, will start cane crushing from Oct. 15 for the year ending September 2009, a senior trade official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The trade was expecting crushing in Maharashtra to begin from Nov. 1.

Sugar millers, after a meeting with the state minister's committee earlier in the day, have decided to start crushing from Oct. 15, Balasaheb Patil, chairman, Maharashtra State Co-Operative Sugar Factories Federation Ltd (MSCSFF), said.

The state had decided to start crushing from Oct. 1 for the year ending September 2008, but could not begin it due to monsoons. Large scale crushing could only begin in November.

A slight delay in cane crushing in the year begining Oct 1 is keeping in mind lower cane availability due to shrinking acreage.

The state government has also banned sales of sugarcane produced in the state to mills in other states, especially neighbourng Karnataka.

"The move has become necessary keeping in mind less cane availability," Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of MSCSFF, said.

The mills in the state are forecast to crush 45 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes of cane to produce 5.2 million tonnes to 5.7 million tonnes of sugar in the year ending Sept 2009, Naiknavare said.