The government will soon announce a bailout package of Rs 8,000 crore to sugar industry to ensure the cash-starved mills clear cane dues of Rs 22,000 crore, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.
The government will soon announce a bailout package of Rs 8,000 crore to sugar industry to ensure the cash-starved mills clear cane dues of Rs 22,000 crore, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.
Food ministry Ram Vilas Paswan has sent a note to the cabinet for the Rs 8,000 crore financial Package.
Sugar mills are unable to make payments to cane growers as their financial state has worsened due to a sharp fall in sugar prices after a record production of 31.6 million tonne (MT) so far in the 2017-18 season.
Maximum cane dues of more than Rs 12,000 crore are in Uttar Pradesh alone, the country's biggest sugarcane producing state.
The bailout package can be seen as a direct consequence of BJP's loss in Lok Sabha by-poll in Kairana constituency in Uttar Pradesh. However, Paswan refuted suggestions that the package is linked to results faced by the ruling party in recent by-elections, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
A week back, RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan backed by a united opposition had crushed BJP's hopes to retain the coveted seat of Kairana in the sugarcane belt of Western Uttar Pradesh.
BJP manifesto for the 2017 assembly polls promised payment to farmers within 14 days of selling sugarcane to the mills.
The abysmal state of sugarcane farmers in the region can be gauged from the fact that, state sugar mills now owe close to Rs 12,000 crore to the farmers. The six sugar mills in Kairana constituency owe close to Rs 1,000 crore alone. Sugar mills were also reluctant to purchase all of the farmer's sugarcane due to falling prices and market glut.
Last month, the government had announced a Rs 1,500 crore production-linked subsidy for sugarcane farmers to help millers pay cane payments.
The Yogi administration had had also promised that the mills will keep accepting sugarcane from farmers till the crop is standing in their fields.
Food ministry Ram Vilas Paswan has sent a note to the cabinet for the Rs 8,000 crore financial Package.
Sugar mills are unable to make payments to cane growers as their financial state has worsened due to a sharp fall in sugar prices after a record production of 31.6 million tonne (MT) so far in the 2017-18 season.
Maximum cane dues of more than Rs 12,000 crore are in Uttar Pradesh alone, the country's biggest sugarcane producing state.
The bailout package can be seen as a direct consequence of BJP's loss in Lok Sabha by-poll in Kairana constituency in Uttar Pradesh. However, Paswan refuted suggestions that the package is linked to results faced by the ruling party in recent by-elections, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
A week back, RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan backed by a united opposition had crushed BJP's hopes to retain the coveted seat of Kairana in the sugarcane belt of Western Uttar Pradesh.
BJP manifesto for the 2017 assembly polls promised payment to farmers within 14 days of selling sugarcane to the mills.
The abysmal state of sugarcane farmers in the region can be gauged from the fact that, state sugar mills now owe close to Rs 12,000 crore to the farmers. The six sugar mills in Kairana constituency owe close to Rs 1,000 crore alone. Sugar mills were also reluctant to purchase all of the farmer's sugarcane due to falling prices and market glut.
Last month, the government had announced a Rs 1,500 crore production-linked subsidy for sugarcane farmers to help millers pay cane payments.
The Yogi administration had had also promised that the mills will keep accepting sugarcane from farmers till the crop is standing in their fields.