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News
Revenue recovery orders against 3 Maha sugar mills
Date:
19 Mar 2019
Source:
The Financial Express
Reporter:
Nanda Kasabe
News ID:
36085
Pdf:
Nlink:
The Maharashtra Sugar Commissionerate has issued orders under the Revenue Recovery Certificate ( RRC) code to 3 mills that failed to make fair and remunerative price (FRP) dues to farmers till March 15, 2019.
Maharashtra Sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said these mills had paid less than 30% of the FRP dues to farmers, and therefore the commissionerate has initiated action for seizure of sugar stocks of these mills. This takes the number of RRCs issued by the commissionerate to 49 this season, perhaps among the highest in the last four-five sugar seasons of the state. So far the state has crushed 901.90 lakh tonne to produce 100.74 lakh tonne of sugar. The season is coming to an end and we hope to bring down FRP dues to less than 10% by next month, he said.
FRP dues have come down to `4,926 crore from `5,700 crore at the start of the month and some 76% of the dues have been paid to farmers, the commissioner said. The total payable FRP is around `20,653 crore and around 75% of the payment has been completed, he said, adding that this leaves some 24% to be paid to farmers and the commissionerate is making all efforts to bring this figure down to 10%.
Interestingly, as the season has progressed, the number of agreements between millers and farmers for delay in FRP payments has gone up to 30 from merely 3 at the start of the season.
Farmer activists argue that such agreements are not valid since these were not signed at the beginning of the season, and as per the Cane Control Act, it is binding on millers to make FRP payments within 14 days of the start of crushing. The commissioner stated that Section 3 of the Cane Control Act contains a provision whereby millers can enter into agreements with farmers even at a later stage. Some `3,300 crore is involved here and payments could be staggered to 70% at the start, 20% in the middle of the season and 10% at the end of the season, he said.
Meanwhile, Yogesh Pande, a farmer activist, said he has submitted a letter to the commissioner to ensure that defaulters are not allowed to contest elections. He stated he would also submit a letter to the Election Commissioner in this regard. Sugar mills are headed by political bigwigs.
On their part, millers have been protesting against high sale quota fixed by the Centre for March 2-19 at 24.5 lakh tonne. There have been a large number of complaints that private sugar mills are selling below the minimum floor price (MFP) to traders but no action is being taken, Pande said.
Mukesh Kuvediya, secretary general, Bombay Sugar Merchants Association, had earlier pointed out that the small difference of Rs 30-50 per quintal in M-grade and S-grade sugar is no longer present and millers are selling both grades of sugar at the same price.
Dilip Walse Patil, president, National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, pointed out that the industry is at crossroads and the Gujarat model where FRP is paid in three instalments needs to be followed in Maharashtra where FRP payment has to be done at a time.
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