Bajaj mill shuts in Pilibhit with Rs 152.9cr cane dues pending
PILIBHIT: Bajaj Hindustan Sugar Mill in Barkhera, Pilibhit district, announced its closure on Tuesday with cane dues of Rs 152.9 crore pending, official records of the district cane department show.
The mill began operations on Nov 15 last year. It procured 42.02 lakh quintals of sugarcane valued at Rs 166.3 crore but paid Rs 13.4 crore during the crushing season — 8.5% of the total value of the cane purchased.
Farmers alleged manipulation in the tagging system under which the state govt requires sugar mills to use proceeds from the sale of 85% of their sugar stocks and by-products — molasses, bagasse and pressed mud — to clear cane payments.
District president of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS), Gurpreet Singh, wrote to district magistrate Gyanendra Singh through email and a social media appeal, seeking inspection of the mill’s sold and existing stocks and a review of how sale proceeds were utilised.
Reacting to the closure despite standing cane in fields, RKMS national convener V M Singh said, “A division bench of the Allahabad High Court, in its order dated June 26, 1996, directed that sugar mills must continue crushing as long as cane remains in the fields.” On pending payments, he said banks had denied approval of cash credit limits to Bajaj group mills and that the state govt owed Rs 1,900 crore to the group towards subsidy for setting up 12 sugar mills in the state.
District cane officer Khushi Ram Bhargav said, “Farmers were supplying cane to a raw sugar manufacturing unit, Noble Sugar Mill, which makes immediate cash payments. He added that the unit is not recognised by the state govt as a sugar mill.”
Singh said farmers were free to choose where to sell their produce, but that did not allow Bajaj Sugar Mill to disregard the High Court order.
Farmers alleged repeated violations of the Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953, which mandates payment within 14 days of procurement. They said the state govt had failed to safeguard their interests.
The mill began operations on Nov 15 last year. It procured 42.02 lakh quintals of sugarcane valued at Rs 166.3 crore but paid Rs 13.4 crore during the crushing season — 8.5% of the total value of the cane purchased.
Farmers alleged manipulation in the tagging system under which the state govt requires sugar mills to use proceeds from the sale of 85% of their sugar stocks and by-products — molasses, bagasse and pressed mud — to clear cane payments.
District president of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS), Gurpreet Singh, wrote to district magistrate Gyanendra Singh through email and a social media appeal, seeking inspection of the mill’s sold and existing stocks and a review of how sale proceeds were utilised.
Reacting to the closure despite standing cane in fields, RKMS national convener V M Singh said, “A division bench of the Allahabad High Court, in its order dated June 26, 1996, directed that sugar mills must continue crushing as long as cane remains in the fields.” On pending payments, he said banks had denied approval of cash credit limits to Bajaj group mills and that the state govt owed Rs 1,900 crore to the group towards subsidy for setting up 12 sugar mills in the state.
District cane officer Khushi Ram Bhargav said, “Farmers were supplying cane to a raw sugar manufacturing unit, Noble Sugar Mill, which makes immediate cash payments. He added that the unit is not recognised by the state govt as a sugar mill.”
Singh said farmers were free to choose where to sell their produce, but that did not allow Bajaj Sugar Mill to disregard the High Court order.
Farmers alleged repeated violations of the Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1953, which mandates payment within 14 days of procurement. They said the state govt had failed to safeguard their interests.
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