'Over Rs 2 lakh crore paid as cane dues since '17'

LUCKNOW: Lauding the sugarcane department for being able to restart four previously closed sugar mills and establishing two new ones, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said BJP's double engine government had ensured that payment to cane farmers, including all previous dues, were cleared on time.
Speaking at a certificate distribution ceremony for the winners of the State Sugarcane Production Competition and inauguration of buildings of 25 cooperative and sugar mill committees, the CM said before 2017, sugarcane farmers were not able to get receipts due to discrepancy in weighing of cane and theft of their receipts. Closure of sugar mills also caused inconvenience and payments had been pending since years.
"When BJP came to power in the state, we took immediate steps to settle the pending dues from 2010 to 2017. Sugar mill owners requested for permission to produce ethanol to regulate the pending payments to farmers on time. Sugar mills are now producing ethanol along with sugar. As a result, UP is number one in the country in sugarcane, sugar and ethanol production," the CM said.
He said against payment of about Rs 1 lakh crore from 2007 to 2017, the government made payment of Rs 2.12 lakh crore from 2017 to 2023.
He added that very soon, all 118 sugar mills in the state would be able to make payment for sugarcane within one to 10 days of purchase, as was already being done by 100 mills. The CM pointed out that UP was producing 2,640 quintals of sugarcane per hectare while 3,171 cooperative women groups, with over 59,000 members, were contributing to strengthening the state's economy by collaborating with 60 lakh cane farmers. "Your contribution accounts for nearly 9% of UP's GDP. It will play a vital role in making the state's economy a trillion-dollar economy," he said. The CM also stressed on the need to adopt organic farming. "It would help to heal Mother Earth and ensure the wellbeing of farmers and work towards protecting cows," Yogi said.
He also emphasised on the need to use advanced technology in cane production and sugar production, adding that department had provided farmers with freedom from paper-based transactions through use of technology. In the last six years, he added, the BJP government had provided additional irrigation facilities on nearly 23 lakh hectare of land, as a result of which 45 to 60 lakh sugarcane farmers were supplying sugarcane to mills, "indicating that the scope of cane cultivation in the state has expanded significantly".