'Report on Thummapala sugar mill soon'

The Andhra Pradesh government would appoint a committee headed by the director of sugarcane to look into the affairs of Thummapala cooperative sugar mill in Visakhapatnam district, said chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Naidu announced this while interacting with sugarcane growers at Anakapalle on his two day visit in Vizag district.

Though the sugar mill has a crushing capacity of 120,000 tonnes per annum, it is crushing only between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes. Farmers have been demanding expansion and modernisation of this sugar mill.

The chief minister said the committee would give its report in three months, after which the government would take action to improve the financial position of the mill.

The co-operative mill owes Rs 6 crore to farmers. Naidu said the government would sell the existing sugar stock immediately, and their dues would be cleared at the earliest.