Kolhapur: The state sugar commissionerate has initiated action against 15 sugar mills by issuing Revenue Recovery Certificates (RRC) due to their failure to pay sugarcane farmers the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), reported The Times of India.
This action is based on a bi-weekly report submitted to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The RRC serves as a legal instrument used by the sugar commissioner’s office to ensure timely payment to farmers.
The notices, known as Revenue Recovery Certificates (RRC), allow authorities to recover unpaid dues by auctioning sugar stocks or seizing mill assets if necessary. Under existing regulations, sugar mills must pay farmers within 14 days of processing sugarcane.
An official from the sugar commissionerate stated that while 125 mills have fully paid farmers, 21 mills have paid less than 60% of what they owe. Local authorities have been instructed to work with these mills to speed up payments. Some mills, particularly in Kolhapur, pay farmers more than the minimum price set by the government, which depends on the sugar yield from the cane.
Only one mill is still operational this season, located in Pune district, processing 6,000 tonnes of cane daily. Officials expect it to finish soon, marking the official end of the crushing season.
This season, Maharashtra has produced 80.8 lakh tonnes of sugar from 852 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, a decline compared to last year’s 1,100 lakh tonnes. The sugar recovery rate has also dropped from 10.25% in the previous season to 9.48% this year.
