Cane arrears come down to Rs 6,681 crore till November 15

New Delhi: The arrears to be paid by mills to sugarcane farmers have come down to Rs 6,681 crore from a peak of Rs 17,301 crore in July this year, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"The cane dues of Rs 17,301 crore were outstanding against sugar mills as on July 15 of this year. Since then, Rs 10,620 crore have been paid to the sugarcane producers up to November 15," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

At present, sugarcane dues of Rs 6,681.88 crore are outstanding against the sugar mills including arrear of Rs 277.03 crore of the 2015-16 season (October-September) and Rs 6,404.85 crore of the 2014-15 and earlier seasons, he said.

To a question on when the entire arrears would be cleared, the minister said, "The payment of cane dues is an ongoing process and the dues position changes continuously on account of fresh supplies received and payment made for previous supplies. As such, it is not possible to indicate time line by which the full amount would be paid."

Stating that soft loans provided to mills has helped in reducing the cane price arrears, Paswan said: "Funds amounting Rs 4,151 crore were disbursed under the Soft Loan Scheme which were credited directly into farmers' account."

In June, the government had announced interest-free loan of Rs 6,000 crore to sugar mills to help them clear part of their dues to farmers.

To a separate query on any issues between cane growers and millers in settling pending arrears, the minister said the Sugarcane (Congrol) Order, 1996, stipulates payment of cane price within 14 days of its supply, failing which interest at the rate of 15 percent per annum on amount due for the delayed period beyond 14 days is payable.

The powers for enforcing this provision are delegated and vested with the state government, who have necessary field formations. Such representations are forwarded to states concerned for appropriate action, he said.

Besides soft loans, the government has taken several other initiatives to help the sugar industry resolve the liquidity problems and expeditiously clear cane price dues, the minister added.