The Hindu : Karnataka News : Nine sugar factories to be upgraded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 05, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Nine sugar factories to be upgraded

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 4. The Minister for Sugar, Amaregouda Bayyapur, today said there is a proposal to upgrade nine cooperative sugar factories. Under the proposal, which will be sent to the National Cooperative Development Corporation for financial assistance, the crushing capacity of the units will be increased.

Sugarcane production

The Minister told presspersons here that following the good monsoon, the sugarcane production in the State is expected to be encouraging. It is estimated that about 150 lakh tonnes of sugarcane will be crushed to manufacture 15 lakh tonnes of sugar. Karnataka has stocks of 9.1 lakh tonnes of sugar, which is worth over Rs. 1,000 crores, and 11 lakh quintals is released each month, he added.

Arrears

Mr. Bayyapur said factories have disbursed Rs. 708 crores to clear 85 per cent of arrears to farmers for 2004-05 and the rest of the arrears will be realised soon.

The arrears of Rs. 22 crores to farmers will be disbursed soon, he added.

The Sugar Institute in Belgaum, he said, will be developed on the lines of the Vasantdada Patil Sugar Institute in Pune. For research, on the lines of the sugarcane research centre in Coimbatore, an allocation of Rs. 2 crores will be provided.

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