Payment of Rs. 284 crores made to sugarcane farmers by sugar mills: Randhawa
Payment of Rs. 284 crores made to sugarcane farmers by sugar mills: Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa
Chandigarh, February 28: “The cooperative sugar mills of the state have crushed 1,56,70,692 quintal sugarcane during the current crushing season. The sugar mills have made payments on their own level to the tune of Rs. 284 crore out of the total Rs. 485.62 crore which is calculated in accordance with the price of Rs. 310 per quintal fixed by the Punjab Government. The payments made account for 59 percent of the total payments which are to be made.”
This was disclosed here today by the Cooperation Minister, Punjab, S. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. The minister further said that during the crushing season 2018-19 the cooperative sugar mills have crushed 1.56 crore quintal sugarcane till 27.2.2019 and the average on date recovery of sugar in respect of the mills is 10.41 percent and the to date recovery is proceeding at 9.84 percent which is likely to increase further.
In comparison with the previous crushing season, the cooperative sugar mills have till date produced sugar worth Rs. 25 crore more. The Cooperation Minister further said that the cooperative sugar mills are making arrangements aimed at timely payments to the sugarcane farmers during the 2018-19 crushing season. The minister also divulged that the balance payments amounting to Rs. 74.67 crores pertaining to the crushing season 2017-18 regarding which the Chief Minister has already permitted the release of funds.
S. Randhawa also elaborated that the Punjab Government is fully committed to the welfare of the farming community and as part of the strategy to give fillip to the sugarcane sector, the setting up of a Sugarcane Research Centre with the assistance of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana is being given active consideration for providing new varieties of sugarcane which yield more sugar and more produce besides apprising farmers of the innovative techniques with regard to the sugarcane farming. The decision in this respect would be taken soon.