3 sugar mills, including one run by the head of national co-op federation, fined Rs 14 crore
The Sugar Commissioner in Pune has fined three Maharashtra sugar mills a total of ₹14 crore for starting cane crushing before receiving official licences. Harshwardhan Patil’s Indapur mill faced the largest penalty. Authorities said licences are issued only after mills clear statutory dues, including payments for flood-affected farmers and cane cutters.
Kolhapur: The Sugar Commissioner in Pune fined three sugar mills a total of Rs 14 crore for crushing sugar cane before the licence was issued. One of the mills is run by Harshwardhan Patil, the president of the National Cooperative Sugar Federation.
State govt had fixed Nov 1 as the start of the crushing season, but it was brought to the notice of the commissioner’s office that some mills began crushing before that date or before receiving a cane-crushing licence. A penalty of Rs 500 per tonne of sugar cane crushed prematurely was imposed.
Patil’s Indapur Karmayogi Shankarrao Patil Cooperative Sugar Factory was fined Rs 11.2 crore. Sahakar Shiromani Vasantrao Kale Cooperative Sugar Factory, in Pandharpur, was fined Rs 2.3 crore, and Raygaon Sugar and Power Ltd, in Sangli’s Kadegaon, received the remaining penalty. The commissioner has asked the mills to pay the fines within a week.
Sugar factories must apply for a cane-crushing licence to the commissioner’s office. Licences are granted only after verifying that a mill has cleared all dues related to mandated contributions, such as state govt’s recent requirement of Rs 10 per tonne for farmers affected by heavy rain and floods and contributions towards the welfare of sugar cane cutters.
A uniform start date is fixed to ensure parity among mills. Some mills, however, commence crushing early to prevent farmers from taking cane to neighbouring Karnataka, where mills began operations 10 days before Maharashtra govt’s scheduled date. Last month, three mills in Satara district were penalised for the same reason.
Sanjay Kolte, the sugar commissioner, speaking to TOI, said, “The mills can appeal against the punitive action in the courts. There can be technical reasons or, in most cases, competition among the mills for starting the crushing before the cane crushing licence is issued or before the fixed date of the cane crushing season. The penalty is fixed by state govt by law.
“Crushing without a licence is illegal and may result in farmers being cheated on the mandatory fair and remunerative price (FRP). If mills fail to pay the FRP, the commissioner can issue recovery orders and attach sugar stockpiles to recover dues and pay farmers.
As of Thursday, 191 mills were carrying out crushing. Around 446 lakh tonne of sugar cane have been crushed so far, producing 38 lakh tonnes of sugar, with a recovery rate of 8.5% in Maharashtra.
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Source : The Times Of India
