Sugar mill managed by Pankaja Munde faces action for unpaid dues

Failure of mills to clear their payment to farmers for the cane they have purchased has initiated such action. With Maharashtra reporting a whopping Rs 4,609.55 crore in unpaid dues by the end of the March, more such action is expected right in the middle of the election season. Unpaid dues is likely to influence the choice of voters in at least eight constituencies — Kolhapur, Hatkanangale, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Madha, Beed and Osmanabad — in the state.

By the end of March, mills in Maharashtra were to pay Rs 21,154.48 crore to farmers as the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of cane they had crushed. However, farmers have received only Rs 16,544.93 crore, with the mills reporting arrears of Rs 4,609.55 crore. Till April 4, of the 195 mills which had taken season, 159 have ended their crushing operations. Mills in Maharashtra have crushed 941.32 lakh tonnes (lt) of cane and produced 105.66 lt of sugar.

While sugar production has been more than satisfactory, mills have defaulted in their payment to growers. Only 34 mills have cleared 100 per cent of their dues, with 57 others paying between 80 and 99 per cent of their dues. Five mills have failed to pay a single penny to their growers as on date. Incidentally, this would be the highest-ever cane dues reported by the sugar sector in Maharashtra.

A battery of measures by the central government, aimed at arresting the rising cane dues. have failed to address the problem. The latest initiative was to announce a soft loan for mills to clear their dues, but most mills say financial institutions are wary of extending further credit to them. “The fundamentals of the trade is broken. As against the cost of production of Rs 3,400 per quintal, sugar is now selling at Rs 3,100 per quintal. How can we pay the farmers,” asked a private miller from Kolhapur.

As election fever catches on, the issue of unpaid dues is missing from the campaign trail but surely not from the minds of the voters.