Pune: The on-going sugarcane crushing season has entered its last stage as 10 mills have closed crushing operations. As the mills are trying to complete cane crushing on time, most of them have failed to clear 100% payment to the cane farmers. The mills till February end owe arrears worth Rs 2,367.46 crore to the cane farmers.
The sugar mills have crushed 744.62 lakh tonnes of cane worth Rs 18,497.54 crore as per the FRP. 97 sugar mills out of total 187 mills that took part in crushing operations this season have signed agreements with farmers to pay FRP in installments. Considering these agreements, the mills were supposed to pay Rs 16,275.68 crore but have paid Rs 13,917.38 crore to the cane farmers. As many as 74 sugar mills have cleared 100% FRP to the cane farmers and 113 mills are yet to clear the pending cane dues.
