With a view to provide relief to the state sugarcane farmers and the sugar mill owners, the Bihar government has announced a cash subsidy of Rs 47 crore to help mills clear their sugarcane arrears. The decision was taken by the state cabinet in a meeting held on Friday.
?Each of the nine sugar mills will get a cash subsidy of Rs 7 a quintal for the total sugarcane crushed in the last season. The money will be disbursed to the District Magistrates of the district where these mills are located, and through them to the farmers?, said the state Cane Development Minister Nitish Mishra.
Mills in the state owe Rs 90 crore to farmers for the sugarcane they purchased in the state from last season. After this help from the state, mills will still owe about Rs 47 crore to farmers, which will be cleared once they receive the central government announced interest-free loans against excise payments.
For the current sugar season (October-September), the state has reduced the per quintal sugarcane price from Rs 120 to Rs 98, from Rs 115 to Rs 93 and from Rs 111 to Rs 86 for the three sugarcane varieties purchased by mills.
On Friday, the state cabinet also decided to reduce the zonal development commission payable by mills on sugarcane from 1.8 per cent to 0.45 per cent in the ongoing season.
Mishra informed that of the 29 bids received by the state government for the 15 closed sugar mills of the Bihar State Sugar Corporation 28 bids have qualified the technical round. The financial bids will open on January 3 at Patna.
Last month, the Bihar government decided to offer 15 closed mills belonging to the Corporation for a long-term lease of 60 years, extendable by 30 years, on the recommendation of SBI Capital Markets.
Leading names among the bidders include Reliance Industries (which has bid for 2 mills) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (which has bid for 4 mills.
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