26 sugar factories owe Rs 114 crore to farmers: Maharashtra government

NAGPUR: Twenty-six co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra owe Rs 114 crore to the sugar-cane growers as of September 30 this year, the Legislative Assembly was told today.

Replying to a question by Pravin Darekar and others during the question hour in the lower house, Co-operation Minister Harshwardhan Patil said that arrears were being recovered through the district collector's office, and necessary orders had been issued.

He said that factories had been asked to deposit Rs two per a tonne of sugar as an additional amount towards relief fund for Fayan cyclone, with the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Patil told the Legislative Council that co-operation department, through the Osmanabad collector, was in the process of recovering a total of Rs 2,103 lakh from Terana Co-operative Sugar Factory which included arrears of Rs 153 lakh for 2002-03, Rs 1,470 lakh for 2010-11 and revised arrears of Rs 580 lakh for the same period.