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The cabinet is likely to consider providing incentives to beleaguered sugar mills next week, Food Minister K V Thomas told reporters on Wednesday.
Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said this month government was considering giving sugar mills as much as $1.17 billion in interest-free loans to help them pay cane growers, plus additional incentives to encourage them to produce raw sugar.
Mills started cane crushing almost a month behind schedule citing a freefall in sugar prices and rising rates of cane. The delay has halved the sugar output so far in the season beginning October.
