PATNA: In a move to ensure financial assistance amid the lockdown, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday asked the owners of state's 11 private sector sugar mills to make an immediate payment of arrears of Rs 934.34 crore to cane farmers.
Modi said that farmers are facing hardships in this critical time. "At such a time, the sugarcane producing farmers of the state will get a big relief", he said.
He has requested Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for taking steps for immediate payment of arrears of Rs 80.36 crore to farmers on Lauria sugar mill and Rs 58.84 crore on Sugauli.
About 67 percent of the arrears have been paid by the sugar mills of Harinagar and Narkatiaganj (P. Champaran), Sidhwalia (Gopalganj) and Hasanpur (Samastipur). The Pratappur sugar mill in Uttar Pradesh also owes 11.38 crore to the farmers of Bihar, Modi said.
He said that the price of sugarcane is fixed at Rs 172 per quintal in Bihar.
"In the last crushing season of sugarcanes, all the private sector sugar mills in the state crushed 675 lakh quintal of sugarcane worth Rs 2036.23 crores. But, only Rs 1101.88 crore has been paid so far. The pending dues are 934.34 crore", he said.