Sugar plantations in Maharashtra hurting other crops, claims BJP leader

PUNE: A leader of Maharashtra’s ruling BJP said there was more sugarcane plantation in the state than reported by its agriculture department, and that the authorities need to do a rethink on the crop and the sugar industry because it drew huge amounts of water.

"There could be about 7-10% excess cane in Maharashtra than reported by the agriculture department," said Madhav Bhandari, BJP’s chief spokesperson for Maharashtra. "The sugar industry needs huge water and many a time, it is stolen." He was speaking to ET on the sidelines of a function on implementing a pilot project for equitable water distribution in the Chikotra river basin of Maharashtra.

"It is a myth that the sugar industry is a boon. It has used huge government money and defaulted on paying farmers their money. If it is a boon, then it is a boon only for a select few in the state," he said. "Experts say only a limited area of Maharashtra can get irrigation. But all the irrigated area is under sugarcane and other crops are dying."