Vadodara, Aug 06: Gujarat government has appealed to the Union Agriculture Ministry to allocate Rs 180 crores from the sugar development fund to the sugarcane growers of the state. Union Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh had recently announced a financial package for the sugarcane growers of states from the sugar development fund, Gujarat Agriculture Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told here today.
Singh had recently announced Rs 600 crores relief package for the sugarcane growers in some of the states including up, Punjab, Haryana as they suffered heavy losses due to various reasons.
This had apparently angered sugarcane growers of Gujarat who pressurised the state government to take up the matter with the Centre.
Chudasama wrote a letter to Singh on July 24 last in which he said that the cane growers of Gujarat should be treated at par with the cane growers of other states.
In his letter to Singh, Chudasama said in Gujarat out of 30 sugar cooperatives only 19 sugar cooperatives were in working condition.
The total difference of supportive minimum price (SMP) and prices fixed by the sugar cooperatives on pulling system worked out to Rs 180 crores, Chudasama stated in his letter.
Bureau Report