Governemnt assures Rs 600 crore soft loan to mills to aid sugarcane farmers

NEW DELHI: Under pressure from its own MPs over non-payment of arrears to sugarcane farmers by non-payment, the government on Friday said it is committed to helping farmers and thus had made provisions to provide Rs 6,600 crore soft loan to enable payment to farmers.

It also said it was going to increase the export subsidy on raw sugar to Rs 3,371 per tonne during August-September period, compared to Rs 3,300 per tonne fixed for the previous two months.

BJP MPs from UP on Friday initiated a forceful discussion over the issue and demanded answers from the government. Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, who first raised the issue through a calling attention motion, indicated that the government was biased towards mill owners and did not care about farmers as over Rs 9,000 crore in dues to farmers was still pending.

He said, "We are giving soft loans to mills. But they are threatening that they will close down. Government must ask them how much of their own money have they invested. No one is talking about farmers. When you prepare budget, you call industry people, Assocham for suggestions. Have you ever called farmers?"