As sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh begin inching towards closure, the state’s 120 sugar mills have so far made 110 lakh tonne, which is approximatey 12% much less than last year’s production of 126 lakh tonne.
Of the 120 sugar mills in operation, 110 have shut shop although the remaining 10 are most likely to close by the finish of the month or in early June. According to business sources, the season in UP could nicely finish with total output of a small more than 110.5 lakh tonne.
According to information accessed by FE, as on May 24, the 120 mills that operated in this season have paid Rs 20,324 crore cane dues to the farmers, although Rs 11,913 crore are nevertheless pending. The 93 private sugar mills operating in the state have cleared 65% of their dues and nevertheless owe around Rs 10,087 cr, although 24 UP Cooperative sugar mills have paid 38.48% and owe Rs 1629 cr.
The 3 UP sugar corporation mills have paid 49% of their dues and nevertheless owe Rs 197 crore.
The payment of Rs 20,324 crore is slightly more than 63% of the total cane dues throughout the season, when mills crushed 1018.82 lakh tonne of sugarcane to make 109.81 lakh tonne of sugar.
It could be talked about that UP has been historically closing sugar seasons with higher cane dues. While last year’s (2019-20) cane dues at the finish of the season stood at a historical higher of Rs 14,800 crore, in 2018-19, the closing dues had been at Rs 10,213.88 crore, although in 2017-18, the closing dues had been to the tune of Rs 12,419.63 crore.
While the state’s typical payment is about 63%, some private sugar mills’ overall performance is abysmally poor. The main defaulters are the Yadu group’s two mills that have made only 3.06% of its total cane dues, although the Modi group’s two mills have paid only 3.93% of its total cane dues. The Bajaj group as well, which has 14 sugar mills in the state, has paid a meagre 15.8% of its total dues, although Simbhaoli group’s 3 sugar mills have paid a mere 24.12%.
However, groups such Dwarikesh, DSC, Dalmia, Birla, Dhampur, Triveni, IPL and Balrampur Chini have paid nicely. While Dalmia’s 3 mills have paid 94.66%, Dwarikesh group, which has 3 sugar mills, has paid 93.66% of its dues. Balrampur group’s 10 sugar mills have paid 93.48%, although DSCL’s 4 mills have paid 92.70%. Dhampur’s 5 mills that have paid 86.83%, followed by Birla group’s 4 mills have that have paid 80.44%. Triveni’s seven mills have cleared 87.68% of their dues, although Indian Potash’s six mills have paid 71.84%.