No New Sugar Mills In State, master plan required: Report
By Sumit Kumar, Section Business
Posted on Sat Oct 04, 2008 at 02:14:38 AM EST
No new sugar mills should be allowed in the state, even if the sugar commissioner has granted certificates, said Shivaji Deshmukh, director general of Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) in a report that was submitted to the Bombay High Court in late July. The report calls for a master plan to be prepared for the sugar industry in Maharashtra. The report was made public last week by the petitioner Ashok Kulkarni, who filed a case four years ago demanding that irregularities in the industry be examined.
"No permission for new sugar mills should be given by the government until the government prepares a master plan with the sole objective of development of the sugar industry with due consideration to area development, availability of irrigation potential duly assessed by an expert committee and not relying on the certificates issued by the commissioner of sugar," Deshmukh said in his report.
Click on "Full Story" for more..
Earlier, the High Court had asked an expert (Deshmukh) to report on whether the capacity of the existing mills need to be enhanced so that no sugar goes waste, whether to have redistribution of sugar between the efficient sugar mills and whether new sugar mills need to be established.
In his report, Deshmukh expressed concern over the number of sick sugar mills in the state in the last few years. "In spite of the number of recommendations of various committees on sickness and support of number of packages by the state and central governments, the number of sick units are increasing," he has written, while calling for the liquidation of sick units. In some cases, they can be amalgamated with efficient ones. The present practice of giving lease on short-term basis should be discontinued, as it would result in lengthening the sick period with no consequential benefits, he said. TIE
