Sugar mills owed Rs 14,547 crore to farmers as on February 15 of the current marketing year that started in October, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Of the total sugarcane arrears, Uttar Pradesh-based sugar mills owed Rs 7,143 crore, followed by Maharashtra at Rs 2,461.28 crore, Raosaheb Patil Danve, minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Cane arrears in Karnataka stood at Rs 1,849.36 crore as on February 15 of the 2014-15 marketing year (October-September).

Bihar millers owed Rs 516.75 crore, while mills in Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Punjab had an outstanding cane price payment to the tune of Rs 496.72 crore, Rs 491.58 crore and Rs 462.58 crore, respectively.

Recently, the government had approved subsidy on export of up to 1.4 million tonnes of raw sugar in the ongoing 2014-15 marketing year.

The decision was aimed to boost exports of surplus sugar and improve the millers’ cash flow for enabling them to clear mounting sugarcane arrears.

Mills are unable to make payment to farmers due to lower ex-factory sugar prices as compared to sugarcane prices.