Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday alleged that sugar factories in the State were yet to pay dues of ₹74.25 crore to farmers towards sugarcane supplied by them.
The list of defaulting sugar mills included the one run by the family of Belagavi district in-charge Minister Ramesh Jharkiholi, he alleged, while participating in a debate on the plight of sugarcane growers. He said the government was not bringing pressure on sugar factories to pay the arrears to farmers.
BJP member Laxman Savadi wondered why the government was not punishing the defaulting sugar mills by deducting money to be paid to them towards power supplied from the mills. He took exception to the government fixing the sugarcane procurement price at ₹2,700 a tonne. He alleged the government had reduced the price though sugar factories themselves were ready to pay ₹3,150 a tonne.
Mr. Shettar urged the government to begin procurement of maize in the wake of crash in its price.
