(FE)
Under immense pressure to get the cane dues of the last season cleared urgently before the new season begins in less than a month’s time, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday announced a soft loan of Rs 4,000 crore plus a subsidy of Rs 4.50/quintal to clear the dues of the farmers by November 30.
Briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting, the chief minister said the soft loans will be provided through banks and other financial institutions on an interest rate of 5% for five years to all those sugar mills that have paid at least 30% of their total cane dues. In case of default, a compounding interest of 12% would be charged.
“The prices of sugar in domestic and international markets have reached an all-time low, which is one of the reasons why mills are unable to clear their dues. This soft loan will help the industry in clearing these dues,” said an official of the department. “We have set the deadline of November 30 for sugar mills to settle their arrears,” he said, adding that the total cane crushed this season was 1,111.90 tonnes. While the total cost of this stands at Rs 35,458 crores, payment of Rs 25,888 crores have already been made to the farmers. The total cane arrears for 2017-18 now stand at Rs 9,770 crores, out of which private mills have to pay `8,500 crores, while the cooperative mills have to pay Rs 887 crores.
