BENGALURU/MANDYA: Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday demanded that the State Government retain the ownership of the Mysuru Sugar (MySugar) and not lease it out to private players. Participating in a protest organised by Raitha Hitarakshana Samithi in Mandya, he said, “We (Congress) will restart MySugar within a month if we come back to power in the state.”
Siddaramaiah said that he would speak to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and urge him to release funds to restart its operations. "Of the 65 sugar factories in Karnataka, only MySugar is owned by the government. Therefore, I demand that the factory be kept in government’s possession. MySugar was established by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and was making profit for a long time... The government must be blamed for the loss and not farmers," he said. "Many government companies are incurring losses. Are we going to privatise them all?" he asked.
Siddaramaiah said that as CM he had released Rs 145 crore to keep MySugar running. "Farmers of Mandya have an emotional connect with the factory. There are several properties belonging to it in Mysuru and Bengaluru, including one in front of Ravindra Kalakshetra. This can be developed to monetise funds and the revenue can be used to run the factory," he suggested.
On coal supply
Siddramaiah said that the State Government should ensure that it gets adequate coal supply from the Centre to ensure that there is no power crisis.