New Delhi: The Central Government, with a view to improve the liquidity position of sugar mills and thereby enabling them to clear cane price dues of farmers for sugar season 2019-20, has been taking various measures like the scheme to provide assistance to sugar mills for expenses on marketing costs including handling, upgrading and other processing costs and costs of international and internal transport and freight charges on export of sugar.
According to reports, Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan in the Rajya Sabha on 13th March 2020 answered the questions related to the crisis the sugar industry is facing. He shared that the Government is continually taking steps to keep the industry run smooth. Here, Paswan also directed that the state governments should take strict action against sugar mills that are not paying the farmers and exploiting them. It comes under the jurisdiction of state governments only.
With a view to increasing blending of ethanol and reducing the import bill of crude, the Government has taken multiple steps including promotion of ethanol production from molasses/sugarcane juice/sugar syrup/ distilleries producing ethanol from damaged food grains such as broken rice, wheat etc. which is unfit for human consumption.
Recently, the Government also agreed to produce ethanol from the old sugar stocks piled with sugar mills. The Central Govt. has the vision to achieve 20% ethanol with petrol by 2030 and is moving in the same direction. Where ethanol provides an additional revenue stream for the sugar companies, besides sugar and bagasse-based power experts believe the production and optimization of ethanol will definitely aid sugar mills to become financially, however it in now onus on the sugar industry to step up and supply the required quantity.
