Centre promises UP govt loans for sugar mills

Centre promises UP govt loans for sugar mills
R.B. SINGH

LUCKNOW, NOV 5: The Union Government has assured the Uttar Pradesh government of Rs 2,000-crore bank loans to sugar mills to clear the dues of sugarcane farmers and mill employees.

Both the farmers and employees had been demonstrating for the past six months for payment of arrears. One farmer, Bhulan, was killed when the police opened fire on August 29 to disperse a crowd of farmers and employees at Padrauna protesting against the non-payment of their dues by mill owners.

Bhulan's killing had evoked sharp reactions from the Opposition parties.Ram Prakash Gupta could not resolve the issue.

Rajnath Singh convened a meeting of senior officials of the concerned department, on the day he took charge as the Chief Minister, to discuss sugarcane farmers' problems. The next day, he held a meeting with themill owners too.

He also requested the Centre to arrange bank loans of Rs 2,000 crore to millowners so that they could clear the dues. Singh has raised the support price of sugarcane by Rs 5 for the current crushing season. For the early maturing variety of sugarcane, the price has been raised from Rs 90 to 95 and from Rs 85 to 90 for the other variety.

With the increase, the farmers will gain an additional Rs 250 crore. The government has also announced reliefs for the mill owners. Now they will not have to pay Rs 2 per quintal as purchase tax on sugarcane, reducing the burden on mills by Rs 100 crore.The cartage rate has been raised from Rs 3 to Rs 4 and the society commission reduced by 70 paise.