Karnataka weighs options to clear sugarcane dues

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government is exploring various avenues to pay arrears to sugarcane growers with help from the Centre, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said today.

"The central government has announced some financial help through which we are exploring avenues to pay the arrears of sugarcane growers of Karnataka," he told reporters here.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is making efforts to resolve the issue through regular meetings with officials, Gowda said.

The central government is taking several steps to ease the burden, including an increase in sugar import duty to 40 per cent, but sugarcane prices are showing no signs of going up, Gowda said.

The arrears to be paid to sugarcane farmers stand at Rs 21,000 crore at the national level.

To a specific query, Gowda said as many as 550 farmers had committed suicide in 2004-05 in the state, but the cases have come down to 58 because of introduction of free-interest loan schemes.