Days before elections, Maharashtra Govt gave guarantee for loans to 21 sugar mills

Of the six mills not managed by leaders of the ruling alliance, a couple are affiliated to NCP (Sharad Pawar), one with the Congress, two with Independents and one is politically neutral.

In Maharashtra, cooperative sugar mills and politics go a long way with many sugar barons becoming MLAs, MPs and ministers. Although most mills have some association with political parties, not all of them get state government guarantees for loans. In September last, only five mills out of 34 obtained a guarantee to raise Rs 178.28 crore from the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank. For the 2022-23 season, the bank had financed 34 mills to the tune of Rs 897.65 crore, of which Rs 178.28 crore to six mills was on the back of state guarantee.

Cooperative mills raise around Rs 10,000 crore by way of loans each season, sources in the industry said.

Among the mills the state has recommended for loans from NCDC are the Kolhapur-based Tatyasaheb Kore Cooperative Sugar Mill managed by Vinay Kore (Independent MLA), Beed-based Loknete Sundarrao Solanke Cooperative Sugar Mill managed by Prakash Solanke (NCP-Ajit Pawar) and Sri Renuka Sharad Cooperative Sugar Mill in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar managed by minister Sandipan Bhumre (Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde).

Also mentioned in the government’s list of 21 are two units of Satara-based Kisanveer Cooperative Sugar Mill managed by NCP MLA Makrand Jadhav Patil, who famously oscillated between both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar over the course of a week in 2023. He is now with the Ajit Pawar faction. Patil had in a statement said that he had met Ajit Pawar in July 2023, when the latter walked away with almost all NCP MLAs, to discuss financing for his debt-ridden mill units.

While Minister for Co-operation Dilip Walse Patil was unavailable for a comment due to health reasons, Anop Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Co-operation and Marketing, did not respond to calls or messages from The Indian Express seeking a response.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Basavaraj Patil, chairperson of the Dharashiv-based Shri Vitthalsai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK), whose mill got government guarantee and is on the list of 21, denied any political link in the grant of NCDC loans. Patil had recently crossed over to the BJP from the Congress. The state took the decision in view of “the importance of the cooperative structure in the state”, he said.

“It is the only way for rural industrialisation. The list of 21 mills includes those run by Congress and other Opposition leaders too,” Patil said. The six mills on the government’s list that are not managed by leaders from the ruling alliance are the Pune-based Raosahebdada Pawar Ghodganga SSK Ltd managed by Ashok Pawar (NCP-Sharad Pawar MLA), Sahakar Maharshi Shivajirao Nagawade SSK that is managed by Rajendra Nagawade (who has no party affiliations), Pune’s Raigad Cooperative Sugar Mill managed by Sangram Thopte (Bhor Congress MLA), Solapur’s Shri Siddheshwar SSK managed by Dharmaraj Kadadi (who is not affiliated to any party), Vishwasrao Naik SSK managed by Mansingrao Fattesingrao Naik (NCP-Sharad Pawar) and Mula SSK managed by Yashwant Gadak, who was with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) earlier but is not very active anymore.

Thopte told The Indian Express, “There is no political bias as far as the government recommendation is concerned. My application was found valid, which is why the state agreed to be my guarantor. There’s absolutely no scope for politics here.”

In September last year, Maharashtra had given a Rs 147.79 crore government guarantee to the beleaguered Bhaurao Chavan SSK in Nanded that is managed by Ashok Chavan, the former Congress leader who defected to BJP in February this year.

Besides Chavan’s mill, others that received government guarantees of over Rs 600 crore for loans from MSC Bank included Beed-based Jai Bhavani SSK that is owed by former MLC Amarsinh Pandit (NCP-Ajit Pawar); Solapur’s Sant Kurmadas that is managed by Dhanajirao Sathe (who switched from the Congress to the BJP), Sahakar Maharshi Vasantrao Kale SSK that is managed by Kalyan Kale (NCP-Ajit Pawar) and Shri Chhatrapati SSK in Pune’s Bhavaninagar that is managed by Prashant Kate, an Ajit Pawar loyalist.