For Maharashtra, the sugar sector – especially under cooperatives – has always been influenced by the ruling party in the state. (File photo) Cooperative sugar mills are perhaps the first institutions to feel the change in the political leadership of Maharashtra. Of the nine cooperative sugar mills recommended by the state government for the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), seven are those controlled by BJP leaders, said NCP leader Ajit Pawar. Some are controlled by former Congress-NCP leaders who joined the BJP, he added. Pawar was speaking at the ongoing session of the state legislature.
The NCDC extends financing to sugar mills from the Sugar Development Fund (SDF), a corpus formed in 1982 to help mills. This fund is under the control of the central government and mills apply to it to finance their needs for expansion, modernisation etc. The beneficiaries have to repay the funds after a certain time failing which they can be termed defaulters.
A total of 25 mills have been selected and asked to show their willingness to participate in the OTS programme across the country, including nine from Maharashtra. Of these, seven mills are now controlled by veteran BJP leaders or those who have joined the party recently. The total settlement for all these mills would be around Rs 1,000 crore. Originally, 14 defaulters from the state were to participate in the scheme. However, the final proposal has only nine mills which the state government felt were eligible.
Pawar claimed that political affinity was used to choose the mills to be recommended for the scheme. This, he said, would ultimately harm the sector.
For Maharashtra, the sugar sector – especially under cooperatives – has always been influenced by the ruling party in the state. Earlier, the Congress and the NCP held sway over the mill owners, many of whom control sugar mills in both the cooperative and private sector.