Sugar mills await clearance of 31 loan pleas

Bajaj Hindustan, Uttam Sugar and DCM Sriram are among a host of companies awaiting the government's sanction for a loan from the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) to set up co-generation power units or ethanol plants.

As many as 31 proposals are currently pending with the government. These include 21 applications for co-generation units and 10 for ethanol plants, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

"Receipt of applications for SDF loans for consideration of the government, through the standing committee on SDF, is an on-going process wherein cases are examined and loans sanctioned or rejected throughout the year," he said.

Five proposals for SDF loans have been cleared and three rejected for setting up co-generation plants, he added.

Some of the leading private sector companies which have applied for SDF loans for co-generation plants include Bajaj Hindustan, Shree Renuka Sugars, Mawana Sugars, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Uttam Sugar and DCM Sriram. Bajaj Hindustan and Uttam Sugar also need funds from SDF for setting up ethanol plants.

In the ethanol sector, the loan application of Simbhaoli Sugar Mills has been pending since September last year.

To another query, he said the input cost of sugarcane growing has gone up in Uttar Pradesh and declined in Maharashtra.

The input costs of sugarcane cultivation in Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 23,652 a hectare in 2006-07, from Rs 18,845 a hectare in 2004-05 and these are the lowest in the country.

The input costs in Maharashtra are the highest, though they have come down to Rs 49,211 a hectare from Rs 50,382 during the review period.