UP govt wants early start for crushing; sugar mills not ready over arrears

UP's mills have already expressed their inability to participate in the next crushing season due to high arrears and the paucity of working capital

The domestic sugar market glut and farmers' outstanding dues of about Rs 170 billion, coupled with a bumper sugarcane crop for the next crushing season 2018-19, have all the makings of another crisis-ridden sugar cycle ahead. 

In this backdrop, the Yogi Adityanath government has directed mills to start their crushing operations early from October 15 onwards with the units in Western UP taking the lead.   

Of the total arrears of Rs 170 billion, UP mills, totalling 119, owe the highest of about Rs 112 billion, followed by those in Maharashtra at Rs 11 billion. The state's mills, dominated by the private