The state of Uttarakhand has demanded a special package of Rs 500 crore from the Centre in order to address issues faced by sugarcane growers in the state. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has appraised the problems faced by the farmers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged to solve them.
The sugar mills of the state are in pitiable condition since there is a major gap in the cost of producing a bag of sugar and its price in the market, which is also the reason why sugarcane farmers were not being paid on time.
The state government has taken various steps to improve the condition of sugar mills like introducing relaxation in commission to sugarcane committee, end of fee to mandi committee on biogas as well as calling off entry fee. The Chief Minster has stated that these steps were however not enough and sugar mills are not in a position to pay the dues they owe to sugarcane growers.