Sugar mills owe Rs 6,598 cr to cane farmers

NEW DELHI: Sugar mills owed Rs 6,598 crore to cane farmers at the end of last month, Parliament was informed today.

Out of total outstanding, Rs 5,368 crore pertains to the ongoing 2015-16 marketing year (October-September), while Rs 577 crore relates to 2014-15 and Rs 653 crore for the 2013-14 marketing year and earlier.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs C R Chaudhary provided state-wide details of cane price arrears for the current sugar season 2015-16, 2014-15, 2013-14 and earlier seasons.

"Payment of cane price to farmers is a continuous and ongoing process. Thus the number of farmers affected by such overdue payments changes from time to time. Further, the government does not maintain data relating to number of farmers affected by such overdue," he said.

In 2015-16, Uttar Pradesh millers have maximum outstanding at Rs 2,877 crore till July 31, followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 1,030 crore.

In Maharashtra, the major producing state, the cane arrears stood at Rs 411 crore, Punjab Rs 226 crore, Uttarakhand Rs 209 crore, Gujarat Rs 203 crore, Haryana Rs 126 crore and Karnataka Rs 108 crore, the data showed.