Sugar stocks were on a high today morning after the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met a delegation of the sugar mills to hear their grievances and assured them to provide facilities for facilitating fresh investments to expand capacity and build new factories in the state.
Bajaj Hindusthan surged over 11% in the morning trade to its six-month high, and was trading at Rs 17.27 on BSE. Simbhaoli Sugars rose 10%, and was locked at its upper circuit of Rs 36.65. Dhampur Sugar Mills was trading up 4.6% at Rs 248, after rising to its one-year high of Rs 256.6.
Other sugar stocks were trading high as well, with Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries up 3% at Rs 181.6, Balrampur Chini up 4.1% at Rs 166.55, Shree Renuka Sugars up 4.1% at Rs 15.63, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries up 3% at Rs 486.2, and Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals up 3.9% at Rs 66.3.
Earlier Wednesday, a delegation of top sugar millers in Uttar Pradesh called on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and promised further large investments in the industry in coming years. Adityanath heard the industry’s further grievances and reportedly assured them of the state’s support for expanding capacities and building new mills.
Not only this, Adiyanath also asked the sugar mills to clear pending cane dues of farmers in the next two weeks, even as he acknowledged that about 95% of the pending payments have already been cleared. The delegation included Vivek Saraogi of Balrampur Chini, Ashok Goel of Dhampur Sugar, Aditya Jhunjhunwala of K M Sugar, Madhav Sriram of Daurala, R L Tamak of DSCL, UPSMA president C B Patodia and UPSMA secretary Deepak Guptara.
Yogi Adityanath’s government, soon after taking power in Uttar Pradesh state in March, had expressed its commitment towards development of the sugar industry as a step towards helping double the farmers’ income. Adityanath had also directed the state officials to ensure making the defunct sugar mills operational by the next crushing season, and had also suggested forming a committee to ensure maximum utilisation of the factories during the off season.
All of these steps, including clearing the farmers’ pending dues, are being seen as an indication of the current dispensation’s political will to tackle the contentious issue, which is often torn between the welfare of the farmers and the sustainability of the sugar industry.