Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday the “incentives” announced by the government for sugar millers shall be subject to the industry giving the guarantee that cane arrears would be paid to the growers at the earliest.
“We don’t have any problem in announcing these incentives formally if the millers are ready to make the payments. If they give us an assurance today, we will declare the incentives today itself,” he told journalists.
The department was yet to work out the exact quantum of interest-free loans that would be extended.
It was estimated to be around Rs. 4,400 crore. The government is also planning to enhance the mandatory blending of ethanol with petrol from five per cent to 10 per cent to enable millers to diversify.
While welcoming the incentives, the Indian Sugar Mills Association, a body representing millers, wanted domestic prices to “improve” so that the mills could cover the cost of producing sugar. Discouraging imports would encourage better buying of domestic sugar by stockists, they said.
