Lucknow: Sugar mill in Uttar Pradesh has paid whopping amount, around Rs 2,50,137 crore, to sugarcane farmers since 2017. Notably, this amount is Rs 36,618 crore more than the total payments made from 1995 to March 2017 (22 years). Recently, in just one day, sugarcane farmers in UP got Rs 163.29 crore from different sugar mills.
According to the Sugar Industry and Cane Development Department, between 2007 and 2012, farmers got Rs 52,131 crore, and from 2012 to 2017, they got Rs 95,215 crore. Then, from 2017 to 2022, it increased to Rs 1,66,424 crore, and from 2022 till now, it’s been Rs 83,713 crore. In total, in the last seven years, farmers got Rs 2,50,137 crore.
In the current season of 2023-24, farmers have got Rs 29,053 crore, which is almost 83% of the total amount they were supposed to get. Currently, 121 sugar mills have crushed 975.73 lakh tonnes of sugarcane and produced 103.28 lakh tonnes of sugar.
During the 2022-23 season, out of 118 sugar mills, except for one private sugar mill that still owes Rs 213 crore, the rest have paid all their dues. These mills crushed 1098.82 lakh tonnes of sugarcane and produced 104.82 lakh tonnes of sugar.
Since 2017, three new sugar mills have been set up in the state, and six old ones have been reopened, creating jobs for many.
Also, 285 new Khandsari units have been started, providing jobs for around 41,800 people. With these new units, the sugar-crushing capacity has gone up by 1,84,300 tonnes per day.
In UP, there are 3,208 women self-help groups with 60,093 members, and they have produced 48 crore sugarcane seedlings, getting subsidies from the government.
Ethanol production in UP has gone up from 42.07 crore litres in 2016-17 to 153.71 crore litres in 2022-23, and by March 31, 2023-24, it was 175.11 crore litres.
To help sugarcane farmers grow and spend less, the government has started special training for 2.25 lakh farmers who own more than 5 acres of land. These training sessions are happening in Muzaffarnagar, Shahjahanpur, and Seorahi.
