Namakkal, Tamil Nadu: The Minister for Tourism and Tourism Development Corporation, Sugar, Sugarcane Excise, and Sugarcane Development, R. Rajendran said he would rename the Salem Cooperative Sugar Mill at Mohanur in Namakkal district, reported The Hindu.
The Minister has recently inspected the mill and met with sugarcane farmers, labour representatives, and mill officials. In this meeting, he agreed to the demands of the farmers to rename the mill to Mohanur Cooperative Sugar Mill and assured them that steps would be taken accordingly.
Among the 40 sugar mills in Tamil Nadu, 16 are cooperative, 2 are public sector, and 22 are private. In the last two fiscal years-2022-23 and 2023-24-over 10,000 sugarcane growers received a total subsidy of ₹8.40 crore. In the current year 2024-25, the government has given ₹7.91 crore toward subsidies.
The government is promoting efficient usage of water in sugarcane cultivation through a 100% subsidy for drip irrigation to micro and small farmers and a 75% subsidy for other farmers. The government has further increased the sanctioned amount for the procurement of drip irrigation equipment to ₹43,534 from ₹32,715. More than 1,300 farmers have benefited by setting up drip irrigation systems on over 1,400 hectares so far in the current financial year 2023-24.
Referring to the financial assistance provided to sugar mills, the Minister said that during the last three years, the government has given loans totalling ₹694.37 crores to enable it to pay both the farmers and the mill workers’ salaries as well as to perform routine maintenance works on the mills. To this, the government has also presented incentives worth ₹775 crore to the sugarcane growers over the very period.
The Salem cooperative mill has been producing 25,000 to 28,000 litres of ethanol per day and has become part of the overall efforts for producing ethanol at the state level.
