All Pending Payments to Sugarcane Farmers to be Cleared by July 10

After a review meeting with the officers of Haryana State Cooperative Sugar Mills Federation (Sugarfed) on Monday, State Cooperation Minister Dr Banwari Lal stated that all pending payments to sugarcane farmers will be cleared by July 10. 

He added that during the recent crushing season 2020-2021, cooperative sugar mills procured 429.35 lakh quintals of sugarcane, totaling Rs 1500.83 crore, of which Rs 1082.16 crore was distributed to sugarcane farmers and the remaining amount will be distributed by July 10. 

During the meeting, Lal expressed his gratitude for the officers' efforts and stated that "This season, we must work with the same zeal. We must continuously enhance our working system in order to keep the mills functioning at a reasonable cost." 

While delivering orders to the officers, he stated that only necessary maintenance and repair work should be done in the mills so that they may operate at a low cost, as well as the need to modify the way the mills are run and elevate the mills from loss to profit. 

During the meeting, it was informed that 429.17 lakh quintals of sugarcane were crushed in the crushing season 2020-21, compared to 371.86 lakh quintals crushed in the crushing season 2019-20. Similarly, in crushing season 2020-21, 41.97 lakh quintals of sugar were produced, compared to 37.41 lakh quintals in crushing season 2019-20. 

Furthermore, in crushing season 2020-21, 87.59% of capacity was utilized as compared to 86.13% in crushing season 2019-20. Similarly, in crushing season 2020-21, 7.53 crore units of electricity for Rs 36.08 crore were sold, compared to 6.83 crore units worth Rs 32.19 crore in crushing season 2019-20. 

During the meeting, the minister was informed that the Cooperative Sugar Mills of Meham, Kaithal, and Palwal produced 630.16 quintals of jaggery during the crushing season of 2020-21. Similarly, work on the bio-fuel project has begun in the Kaithal Cooperative Sugar Mill, and it will shortly begin in other Cooperative Sugar Mills.