Sugar millers in Uttar Pradesh have been told to settle cane dues to the farmers or face flak.
In a meeting with representatives of sugar mills in the state here on Tuesday, principal secretary Rahul Bhatnagar warned the millers to pay up at least 90% of their dues to the farmers by July 31 or else the state government will be forced to penalise them by issuing recovery certificates (RCs) and filing FIRs against them.
The ultimatum comes in the backdrop of the Allahabad HC's severe criticism of the state government for its inability in getting farmers their cane dues amounting to Rs 3857 crore approximately. The Court ordered that farmers of flood-affected districts be paid their cane dues by July 18 and those of other districts in the state should be paid their dues by August 15. The next date for hearing on the issue has been fixed for August 23.
“The state government understands the crisis the industry is facing and has been trying to give them time so that they make the payments in installments. But with the court now literally breathing fire, the entire focus of the state government is to be able to tell the court that it has been successful in getting the millers to pay up,” said a source, indicating that there is a kind of urgency in the matter.
In fact, while the bigger groups have paid around 75% to 85% of their total dues, some of the worst-performing mills such as the Modi and Mawana groups, who have so far paid 60% and 67% only, have been given a stern warning.
According to figures available from the cane commissioner's office, the highest dues till July 15 are those of the Bajaj Hindhusthan group, which despite paying 81.97% of its total dues, owes farmers around Rs 734 crore. The Bajaj group has the largest number of sugar mills in UP and has the highest crushing capacity too. The Mawana group owes Rs 306 crore, Triveni Rs 261 crore, Modi group Rs 199 crore, Simbhaoli group Rs 122 crore, Dhampur Sugars Rs 188 crore, Birla group Rs 169 crore, DSCL group Rs 168 crore, Dwarikesh group Rs 119 crore, Dalmia group Rs 136 crore, Balrampur Chini Rs 388 crore.
Interestingly, the state government, too, owes the sugar industry a hefty amount as dues for the co-generated power the mills supply to the state electricity board. According to sources in the industry, the dues are to the tune of approximately Rs 1000 crore and the payment of this will go a long way in helping the industry settle its cane dues.
“This is our money, the payment of which has been put off by the state government for many months. It is ironical that while on the one hand we are being penalised for non-payment of our dues, there is no word about the dues or the interest that the state government owes us,” said a miller.