Sugarcane growers in Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts abutting the Mayiladuthurai region have called upon the State government to revitalise the NPKKR Cooperative Sugar Mills at Thalaignayar in Nagapattinam district, reeling under severe fiscal strain with borrowings, arrears and debts reportedly to the tune of over ₹400 crore.
The mill was commissioned in 1987 at a cost of ₹ 11.50 crore with a capacity to crush 1,250 tonnes of cane a day. Spread over 104 acres, the mill consistently exceeded its installed capacity for better part of the first few seasons crushing on an average 1,850 tonnes of cane a day to return all its borrowings and loans by November 20, 1990.
Much against the wishes of cane suppliers and members, in April 1992 the rulers of the day entrusted the job of expanding the mill capacity to a private engineering major. It heralded the decline in fortunes of the Thalaignayar Sugar Mills, farmers allege.
Estimated at ₹21.96 crore, the mill expansion plan aimed at increasing the crushing capacity to 3,500 tonnes per day on an average and the works were to be completed by May 1993.
“In fact, the mill expansion plan only devastated the fortunes of the mill and cane growers,’’ laments Embavai S. Yoganathan, vice-president, Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Associations.
“We opposed the expansion plans but the authorities promised us several benefits which all turned out to be false and empty boasts. Then we used to harvest at least 8.5 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in the mill’s command area and the authorities claimed that all of them could be crushed after expansion. They said that expansion plan would not affect even a day’s crushing besides saying that ethanol and power co generation would be a boon,” says Mr. Yoganathan.
“The authorities claimed we could avail the Central Government’s incentive of ₹25 crore once the expansion was completed. None got any benefit as the expansion plans ruined the mill,” alleges Arupathy P. Kalyanam, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations of Cauvery Delta.
The mill is now saddled with loans and arrears amounting to at least ₹400 crore. The crushing has been dogged by frequent breakdowns over the past few years leading to accumulating burden. Unrest amongst employees and disquiet among cane suppliers are adding to the woes.
“It’s time the government intervened to help the mill which, in 1991, boasted of surplus funds of ₹15 crore, after refunding capital borrowings of ₹7.5 crore. We hope the authorities would address the issue,” Mr. Yoganathan and Mr. Kalyanam observe.