The sugarcane crushing season 2017-18 is throwing up quite a few firsts for the state. After more than doubling of sugar production compared to last year, the sequence of mills closure seems to portray a significant departure from the other years. Instead of the trend of Marathwada mills closing first, its the mills of Kolhapur that are shutting operations for the season. Of the 187 mills that had taken season this year, till Tuesday, 45 ended operations for the season. Of these, 27 are from the cane-rich western Maharashtra and only 12 mills are from the usually cane-deficit Marathwada. By far, the largest number of mills that have shut operations are from Kolhapur division that constitutes one of the cane growing districts of Sangli and Kolhapur.