The Centre approved a ₹3,500-crore subsidy to sugar mills to incentivise them to export 60 lakh tonnes of surplus stock in the 2020-21 season, helping them to clear payment arrears due to cane farmers.
The decision, taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, would benefit five crore cane farmers and an equal number of mill workers, according to an official statement.
The move comes at a time when thousands of farmers, including a group of cane farmers from U.P., are agitating on the borders of the national capital.
The sugar industry as well as the farmers were in crisis with production at 310 lakh tonnes against the annual domestic consumption demand of 260 lakh tonnes, Prakash Javadekar, Information and Broadcasting Minister, told journalists after the Cabinet meeting.
“Farmers sell their sugarcane to the sugar mills, however the farmers are not getting their dues from the sugar mill owners as they have surplus sugar stock.
“To address this concern, the government is facilitating the evacuation of surplus sugar stock,” according to the official statement.
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