Meerut: Union minister of state (MoS) for agriculture Sanjeev Balyan on Thursday said his ministry has told the prime minister that they aim to export at least 4 million tons of sugar this year to help reduce the surplus of 11 million tonnes. Balyan also advised the Uttar Pradesh government to take over the mills that have failed to pay sugarcane arrears to farmers. He said UP has a lot to learn from its neighbour Haryana, which has ensured 100% payment of sugarcane dues.
"If payments are not happening on time and the crushing season has not started, the state government is not doing its job. If the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were in power, crushing season would have started earlier. In fact, we would have been tougher against mills. My main concern is not towards sugar mills but towards farmers. If the mills do not start on time, farmers stand to lose a lot. If we were in power, we would have filed FIRs against such sugar mills and auctioned their sugar stocks if they did not meet strict deadlines. Since mills such as those belonging to the Mawana and Modi groups are performing poorly, I would advise the state government to take over these mills to ensure that at least farmers get paid," the minister told TOI.
The MP from Muzaffarnagar added saying, "UP has a lot to learn from its neighbouring state Haryana, which has managed to ensure 100% payment of sugarcane arrears that mills owe to farmers. On the other hand, the UP government is still struggling on that front. Even Maharashtra, which is another BJP-ruled state, is performing much better than UP."
India is the second-largest producer of sugarcane in the world after Brazil. The minister claimed that the crisis in the industry had to do with the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime's import policy. "We have been producing surplus sugar for a few years now. This year, we have a surplus of 11 million tonnes of sugar. The UPA government opened import of foreign sugar to a large level. Our government has tried to curb imports. We have even raised the import duty on sugarcane to 40%. At a meeting with the prime minister, we told him that we aim to raise exports to at least 4 million tonnes. Individual sugar mills, particularly in Maharashtra and UP, will be given export targets that they will have to meet. If export rises, that will help us deal with the problem of surplus."
Countering the notion that the Narendra Modi government at the centre had been "ignoring" agrarian crises, Balyan said, "We are doing all that is within our power to control a crisis that started during the UPA regime. We have already cracked down on imports and we are helping to solve the cane crisis. State governments have to do their part as well."
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com