New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the grant of Rs 3,500 crore to sugarcane farmers.
Currently there are about five crore sugarcane farmers and their families in the country. Apart from these, there are about five lakh workers working in sugar mills and its allied activities and all of them depend on the sugar industry.
The farmers sell their sugarcane to the sugar mills, but they do not get their payment from the sugar mill owners as they have extra stock of sugar. To overcome this concern, the government is making efforts to bring the excess stock of sugar to zero. This will facilitate cane farmers to pay their dues. The government will spend Rs 3,500 crore for this purpose and the amount of this assistance will be deposited directly into the farmers’ accounts as payment of dues on behalf of sugar mills. The remaining amount, if left, will be credited to the sugar mills account.
The purpose of this subsidy is the management, improvement and other processing costs and international and domestic transport and goods by sugar mills exporting sugar up to a quantity of 60 lakh metric tonnes under the Maximum Acceptable Export Quota (MAEQ) during the sugar season 2020-21. The total market price to be met including freight charges.
This decision will benefit five crore sugarcane farmers and their families and five lakh workers working in sugar mills and other ancillary activities.