Govt asks pvt sugar mills to clear dues of farmers

The Uttarakhand government has cleared all the dues of farmers for the last crushing season (2007-08) and asked the private sugar mills to follow suit.

With the release of second and last installment of Rs 14.16 crore, all the six government-owned and cooperative sugar mills have cleared the dues of farmers, Sugarcane Minister Mandan Kaushik said.

In October, the government released the first installment of Rs 42.13 crore as part of its Rs 56.l2 crore package for sugarcane growers.

“We have paid both the installments and now all the dues for the last crushing season have been cleared,” said Kaushik. He said the government is now taking all steps so that private mills should also do the same. There are four private mills in the state with Uttam Sugar Mill (Liberhedi) and Luxar Sugar Mills yet to make payment of Rs 6.5 crore each.

He said the government has already announced the State Advised Price (SAP) for late variety of sugarcane at Rs 143 per quintal and Rs 148 for the early variety.

Last year, the SAP was Rs 127 for ordinary produce and Rs 132 for the early variety.