BCM, Ojas not invited to cane reservation meet

Balrampur Chini Mills (BCM) and Ojas industries were not invited to the cane reservation meeting of sugar mills in Lakhimpur district of Uttar Pradesh where these companies are constructing new sugar mills.

This is following the Supreme Court's order preventing these two from undertaking any crushing activity without its permission.

"A reservation meeting is directly related to crushing activity. Therefore, in accordance with the Supreme Court's judgement, we decided not to call these companies at the meeting. Inviting them would have been a violation of the court's judgement. We will call them once they obtain the court's order," said Rahul Bhatnagar, state cane commissioner.

On September 5, an order of the Supreme Court said the upcoming plants of BCM at Nihalpur, Guleria and Kumbhi and those of the Ojas at Piparia Kaptan, Bijuwa and Bhagotipur, all in Lakhimpur, could start crushing only after obtaining the court's permission.

A minimum radial distance of 15 km needs to be maintained between a new mill and an existing sugar mill, including a mill for the establishment of which effective steps have been taken within reasonable time, according to Press Note 12 of 1998 issued by the Union Ministry of Industry.

BCM has attempted to set up sugar mills at Nihalpur, Guleria and Kumbhi, all of which are within 15 km from the sugar mills of the Ojas, supposed to be under construction. The latter filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, against which a transfer petition was filed by BCM in the Supreme Court.

The court's order has prohibited milling and said it would be a 100 per cent risk for any party to go ahead with the construction. If the order goes against any company, it will not be in a position to run the mill or claim any equity. The case will come up for another hearing on November 14.

BCM has decided to go ahead with the construction activity at Guleria and Kumbhi.

At both these sites, the mill is at an advanced stage of construction and the company has already invested about Rs 100 crore.