Proposals For 100 New Sugar Units Being Revived

Proposals for setting up 100 sugar units, which had been held up since 1994, are being revived following the government's recent decision to allow new units to sell their entire output in the free sale market.

This incentive scheme had been available till March 1994 when it expired.

Companies which had obtained letters of intent from the government to set up new units had been waiting for the renewal of the scheme.

This included nearly 20 projects obstructed at the implementation stage, which will be among the first to be taken up now.

The latest decision is, in fact, a gesture in favour of the cooperative sugar sector as the industry's private segment had all along been opposing the setting up of new sugar units.

The private sector had been lobbying for incentives to modernise and expand the existing units while the cooperative sector had been seeking incentives to set up new units in far-flung sugar cane growing areas.

The government's indecision since 1994 also affected the credit offtake of three major financial institutions