Eight more sugar units to be set up

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, APRIL 27. Eight more sugar factories, in the private and the cooperative sectors, will be set up this year and the next, the Minister for Sugar, Mr. A. Krishnappa, said here today.

Talking to presspersons who met him, Mr. Krishnappa said there was a need for 25 sugar units in the State and most of the eight new units would be set up in districts such as Bidar and Belgaum based on the area available for sugarcane allocation.

Mr. Krishnappa said the recent meeting of representatives of managements and sugarcane growers to discuss the problems affecting them had decided to continue paying the incentive of Rs. 15 per tonne of sugarcane to farmers.

It was also agreed, in principle, to continue giving a subsidy of Rs. 25 lakhs for every megawatt of power produced for three years to encourage cogeneration of power by the sugar industry.

It had also been decided to take up with the cooperative financial institutions in the State and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development the question of clearing Rs. 244 crores due from sugar mills to sugarcane growers on a one- time basis with the State Government standing guarantee. The Finance Secretary and the Development Commissioner had been asked to prepare a detailed proposal.

Apart from this, the experts had been asked to prepare a report on the conversion of byproducts of sugar factories into fuel as was being done in Australia and New Zealand.

The Cooperative Act would be amended to ensure quality and productivity, and financial discipline in sugar factories as this was one of the factors responsible for losses.

Referring to the accumulation of nearly Rs. 1,600 crores worth of sugar stocks, Mr. Krishnappa said Rs. 600 crores worth of stocks had been cleared. The Chief Minister was scheduled to meet the Union Agriculture Minister after May 10 to discuss the question of further clearance of stocks. The sugar exported from Karnataka had not been rejected anywhere, he clarified.

In reply to a question, Mr. Krishnappa said there were views for and against the proposal of the Government to shift the Directorate of Sugar to Belgaum and a final decision would be taken after considering them.

Mr. Krishnappa, who also holds the Animal Husbandry portfolio, said a notification had been issued for the upgradation of 200 veterinary centres to veterinary dispensaries last year. Another 200 centres would be upgraded in the current year.

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Section  : Southern States
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