Farmers Movement Archive

Uttar Pradesh: Stocks piling up, mills and sugarcane growers hit hard by lockdown

MEERUT: The woes of sugarcane growing farmers don’t seem to end any soon as mills, where they sell their produce, are struggling to sell sugar in the market due to lockdown. According to UP Sugar Mills Association (UPSMA), 119 mills of the state owe Rs 12,078 crore to cane growers, which is roughly 44% of the total dues. The figure, which is for April 13, is rising everyday as the crushing season is on. Industry experts say that the percentage of non-payment of dues will only rise because of huge amount of stocks lying unsold in the mills’ warehouse. Secretary general of UPSMA, Deepak Guptara, said, “Around 70% of our production is for domestic use and since the lockdown is in force, the demand has dried up. Exports are also down because of global crisis. There is a huge strain on the millers as they have almost exhausted their working capital. We fear that prevailing crisis will adversely affect the payment mechanism.” To add to the woes of the industry, the UP power corporation has also not paid cogeneration dues to the industry. In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), the UPSMA has urged for the immediate release of dues to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore. “In view of the current situation, we would request you to immediately release payment of millers for outstanding dues so that sugar mills can pay to the farmers in these difficult times,” the letter stated. However, the power corporation is yet to respond to that, a source in UPSMA revealed. The UPPCL chairman, Arvind Kumar, confirmed receiving the letter. But he said that the corporation is short of working capital and cannot pay the dues towards the generators. “Nevertheless, we would see if things can be sorted out as soon as possible,” he said. The UP government, on the other hand, has decided to give sugar to the farmers instead of cane price for the 2019-20 season, which has been categorically rejected by the farmer lobbies. “The value of the sugar made available by mills to willing cane farmers will be adjusted from their balance cane dues of 2019-20,” the official statement read. Sugarcane growers' union leaders, on the other hand, have rejected the offer. Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), told TOI, “What are we going to do with sugar? Where are we going to sell these sacs when mills cannot. We want our money. Even at the time of lockdown, business houses are looking for opportunities to maximise their profits. At present, the entire economy of the country is being run by the farmers. It is agriculture sector which is absorbing the out-of-job labourers. It is farmer who is providing them the food grain in lieu of work in the farms. But government, as always, is still unconcerned towards growers’ well-being. The graph of pending cane dues is gradually rising and stands at nothing less than Rs 13,000 crore. Why cannot sugar industry take loan from banking institutions and pay to the farmer?"

The Times of India

2020-04-28

Meerut