)
Uttar Pradesh private sugar millers’ cup of woes is brimming over even as the crushing season is underway. The sugarcane arrears on part of the private millers have touched Rs 4,400 crore, including over Rs 1,000 crore pertaining to 2012-13 crushing season.
For the current season, their arrears have been mounting steadily and have already breached Rs 3,360 crore. The private units have failed to clear arrears for the last season despite a high court order in this regard. Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mills Association Secretary Deepak Guptara said mills were accruing a loss of almost Rs 8 in producing a kg of sugar.
“The ex-mill sugar price has fallen to Rs 2,800 per quintal, while our cost of producing sugar is much higher at Rs 3,600 per quintal,” he claimed.
He said the international sugar prices had also dropped and Brazil had flooded the lucrative Dubai market by lowering its sugar prices.
“The sugar prices did not rise even during Diwali last year and we do not see any spurt in prices in the near future in the domestic market. Things are looking grim for the sugar industry,” he lamented.
The UP cooperative units have additional arrears of over Rs 271 crore for the current season. The state provides cushion to cooperative mills in clearing dues through financial package.
At present, 119 mills, including 95 private, 23 cooperative and a Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation Limited unit, are operational in the state, which is the country’s largest and second-largest sugarcane producer.
So far, UP mills had collectively produced 2.70 million tonnes (MT) of sugar by crushing 30.55 MT of cane. During 2011-12 and 2012-13, UP sugar production stood at 6.97 MT and 7.47 MT, respectively.
This year, UP sugarcane price stands at Rs 280 a quintal but the millers had been allowed to pay in installments of Rs 260 and Rs 20 per quintal.
