Centre will soon release Rs 1,950 crore for sugar mills: Chandrakant Patil

MUMBAI: The Centre will soon release a package of Rs 1,950 crore for the cooperative sugar mills in Maharashtra according to state Cooperation minister Chandrakant Patil.

"The Centre will very soon release a package of Rs 1,950 crore to the state, to be allocated to the cooperative sugar mills. This will help sugar mills overcome financial problems. It will also be then possible for them to pay fair and remunerative price (FRP) to farmers," Patil said while speaking at the inauguration of an ATM of Ahmednagar Merchants Bank here today.

If the sugar mills do not pay the FRP to farmers even after receiving financial aid from the Centre, the state government will take legal action against such mills, he said.

The minister conceded that sugar industry in the state was in trouble.

"The market rate of sugar declined drastically and hence it is very difficult for sugar mills to pay the price of sugarcane in accordance with FRP," he said.

However, the state will help the sector in all possible ways, he added.

The Union Government has announced a package of Rs 6,000 crore for the sugar mills. Of this Maharashtra is supposed to get Rs 1,950 crore.

The sugar industry has demanded more money from the state government but Patil had earlier said that the mills should contribute their share to pay the farmers as per the FRP.