Six godowns of four sugar mills in Belagavi district have been sealed following their failure to pay sugarcane price dues to farmers for 2014-15.
Additional Deputy Commissioner G.L. Praveen Kumar told The Hindu here on Monday that the godowns of Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd.; Shri Someshwar Sahakara Sakkare Limited, Belawadi in Bailhongal taluk; Shri Shivsagar Sugar & Agro Products Ltd. in Udapudi of Ramdurg taluk and Ugar Sugar Works, Ugar Khurd of Athani taluk in the district, have been sealed.
Following orders from the Commissioner for Cane Development and Director of Sugar, the Deputy Commissioner recently directed the Tahsildars in the 10 taluks of the district to start the process of recovery of dues from the defaulting sugar mills.
Subsequently, the Tahsildars issued notices of recovery to 19 of the 22 mills in the co-operative and private sectors directing them to clear their dues with an interest of 15 per cent and another 2.50 per cent interest towards cost of transportation and maintenance.
Notices were not issued to three other mills in view of court cases.
A sum of Rs.782.89 crore is due to growers from the 19 mills; Rs. 187.89 crore from the three units of Renuka Sugars at Munoli of Savadatti taluk, Athani and Raibag, followed by Ugar Sugar Works at Ugar Khurd of Athani taluk — Rs. 123.23 crore.
Outstanding dues
The outstanding dues from other mills are: Athani Farmers Sugar Factory, Navalihal, Athani, Rs. 72.53 crore; the Krishna SSK Ltd., Sankonatti, Athani, Rs. 54.65 crore; Om Sugars Ltd., Jainapur, Chikkodi, Rs. 12.01 crore; Gokak Sugars Ltd., Kolavi, Gokak, Rs. 33.95 crore; Vishwaraj Sugar industries Ltd., Bellad Bagawadi, Hukkeri, Rs. 8.33 crore; Shri Someshwar SSK Ltd., Belawadi, Bailhongal, Rs. 20.23 crore; Shree Doodhaganga Krishna SSKN, Chikodi, Rs. 24.91 crore; Venkateshwara Power Project Ltd., Bedkihal, Chikkodi, Rs. 42.67 crore; Shri Shivsagar Sugar & Agro Products Ltd., Udapudi, Ramdurg, Rs. 26.64 crore; Shivshakti Sugars Ltd., Soundatti, Raibag, Rs. 22.61 crore; Laila Sugars Ltd., Khanapur, Rs. 16.98 crore; Siraguppi Sugar Works Ltd., Kagwad, Athani, Rs. 52.19 crore; Shri Malaprabha SSK Ltd., M.K. Hubballi, Bailhongal, Rs. 44 crore; Shree Halsidhanatha SSK Ltd., Nippani, Rs. 7.96 crore; and the Ghataprabha SSK Ltd., Arabhavi, Gokak, Rs. 32.11 crore.
Mr. Praveen Kumar said that the dues were calculated as per the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Union government; the average FRP for Belagavi district could be around Rs. 2,200 per tonne and the price varies depending upon sugar recovery percentage.
He said that the Tahsildars were empowered to take action to recover dues, including auctioning of assets if the sugar mills failed to comply with the order to clear dues within seven days of the notice.
Action has been taken following their failure to pay sugarcane price dues to farmers