Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has approved a package amounting to Rs 65 crore for making cane payments to farmers. The state government has directed all sugar mills to immediately make cane payments to farmers.
The state government has additionally provided financial package of Rs 23 crore for Gadarpur sugar mill for employees’ salary and voluntary retirement etc. 187 staffs of Gadarpur sugar mill have taken voluntary retirement after the mill closed down. The remaining employees have been transferred to other mills.
Sugar production in India, the world’s second-largest producer and biggest consumer, rose by 7% to 110.90 lakh tons till January 15 during the marketing year ending September, as mills started crushing operations early. As per the data of Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), India’s sugar output stood at 103.82 lakh tons in the same period of the 2014-15 marketing year (October-September).