Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 22
Any private sugar mill in Punjab that fails to pay the dues of cane growers in the state for the produce procured from them will risk a takeover of their business.
Will increase crushing capacity
Since the maximum cane crushing capacity is with private mills, we will have to run them on our own after taking them over for the non-payment of dues to cane growers. At the same time, we are also looking at increasing our cane crushing capacity. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Agriculture Minister
Payments pending
The seven private sugar mills in the state are yet to clear dues amounting to Rs 186.96 crore for the sugarcane purchased by them from farmers in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The first private sugar mill that risks a takeover by the government is the Golden Sugar Mill, alias Sandhar Sugar Mill, in Phagwara. The mill is yet to clear dues amounting to Rs 76.82 crore.
Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said a decision to this effect had been taken by the AAP government. “It is time to end their ‘gundagardi’ (high-handedness),” he said. The government is also proposing to sell off the mill’s assets, worth Rs 23 crore, to recover the dues.
Information gathered by The Tribune indicates that the seven private sugar mills in the state are yet to clear dues for the sugarcane purchased by them from farmers in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Other than the Phagwara mill, the sugar mill at Mukerian, owned by the family of UP strongman DP Yadav, owes growers Rs 57.67 crore. The mill owned by Jasdeep Chadha, daughter of a former DSGMC president, owes Rs 17.94 crore to farmers.
Dhaliwal said he had asked the management of the private sugar mill at Dhuri, also owned by Yadav, to clear its dues of Rs 9.48 crore by July 27, failing which the process to take over his two mills will be initiated.
Sources in the Agriculture Department say that though the mill at Buttar Sevian, owned by the family of Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, owes Rs 23.24 crore, the government has to give them the same amount as the promised subsidy of Rs 35 per quintal, for sugarcane procured by them from farmers. Similarly, a small amount is also shown as pending towards the sugar mill at Amloh, owned by the former advisor to the state government, Kamal Oswal. This amount, too, is shown as pending because the state government has to release the subsidy amount to the mill. “In case of Chadha Sugars, the government owes them around Rs 9 crore, but the remaining Rs 8 crore is the dues of the mill towards farmers,” a senior officer in the Agriculture Department said.
The Tribune has learnt that the nine cooperative sugar mills in the state also owe Rs 299.14 crore to farmers. These dues are from the recently concluded sugarcane crushing season. Dhaliwal said the first instalment of Rs 100 crore would be released by July 30, another Rs 100 crore by August 30 and the remaining amount would be released by September 15.
Govt to take over mills failing to pay dues to cane growers
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