Sugar mills vie for priority allotment after CM Yogi’s announcement

Keshav Agarwal
Pilibhit: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement to prioritise allotment of increased sugarcane cropped area to sugar mills with better records in paying off arrears has spurred competition among mills to clear outstanding cane prices.
UP has 121 operational sugar mills, including 23 in the cooperative sector and 98 in the private sector.Secretary-general of UP Sugar Mills Association Deepak Guptara said the CM’s announcement came soon after the Lok Sabha election results were declared.The overall performance of sugar mills in the state showed improved payment positions compared to previous years.
“As of June 15, for the crushing season 2023-24, mills have paid off 87.06% of their total cane price liability, the highest in comparison to the previous two years. The announcement has motivated mills to work harder to clear the remaining cane price dues promptly,” Guptara added.
Information from UPSMA indicated that the sugarcane cropping area would be reduced for mills performing poorly in clearing cane price dues and allocated proportionately to better performers.Guptara said sugar mills have paid Rs 3,126 crore towards cane price payments, equivalent to 87.6% of the total cane price procured. This is an improvement compared to Rs 30,658 (80.7%) paid in the 2022-23 crushing season and Rs 27,363 (77.7%) paid in the corresponding period of the 2021-22 crushing year.