UP sugar mills owe Rs 4,832 cr to cane farmers as on Sep 1: Ministry

Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh owed Rs 4,832 crore to cane farmers as on September 1 for the crushing season 2021-22 ending later this month.

However, Rs 30,368.73 crore or 86.27 per cent of the total due has been paid, according to Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

The minister informed the same to BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali in a letter dated September 8, which was later posted on the social media platform Twitter by the latter.

The cane crushing season runs from October to September.

Ali had raised the issue of sugarcane arrears in Lok Sabha on August 5.

In response to the same, the minister stated that out of a total payable of Rs 35,201.22 crore for 2021-22 marketing year (October-September), mills in Uttar Pradesh have paid Rs 30,368.73 crore to the farmers.

At present, an amount of Rs 4,832.49 crore is yet to be paid by mills to cane farmers.

The figures are based on the data collected by the state government as on September 1.

Further, Jyoti informed that Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd has paid Rs 263.60 crore, while an amount of Rs 238.09 crore is yet to be paid by the sugar mill.

Notices have been issued to the mills for the clearance of dues at the earliest, she said.

The minister said that the UP government is conscious and committed to ensure the payment of cane dues to the farmers.

In a tweet, Ali said that all mills are exploiting sugarcane farmers.

The government is not listening to the farmers demand on clearing their cane dues, he said, in a roughly translated tweet in Hindi.

"Why are sugarcane farmers being forced to commit suicide?" he added.