Paid sugarcane farmers Rs 321 crore dues: Karnataka Sugar Minister HS Mahadevaprasad

Bengaluru: The state government has already released Rs 321 crore towards the first instalment of dues payable to sugarcane growers as promised on the floor of the Assembly recently since private sugar factories expressed their inability to pay Rs 200 per tonne incentive fixed for the year 2013-14.

Replying to members in the Legislative Council on Monday, Co-Operation and Sugar Minister H.S. Mahadevaprasad said the money had been released to deputy commissioners of all sugar growing districts who had bene directed to deposit Rs 100 per tonne in the bank account of each farmers as early as possible. The second instalment of Rs 100 per tonne would be released before July 31. "We will clear Rs 924 crore due to farmers since the last one and a half years", he added.

The minister said the government had seized around nine lakh tonnes of sugar from 36 sugar factories across the State. The department had seized and sealed godowns having stocks of sugar and not empty godowns as alleged by MLA Laxman Savadi during the Belagavi Session. It was true that the department had seized molasses from Ghataprabha Sugar Factory instead of sugar. "We are not leaving any stone unturned to s seize stocks of sugar from all defaulter sugar mills", he said.

Mr Mahadevaprasad also said a meeting of all sugar mills has been convened on Wednesday to discuss the start of the next crushing season since many factory managements have decided not to crush sugarcane in future to protest against stock seizure.