Acting on such complaints, law enforcement agencies have raided mills in several states. Officials in Karnataka last month raided 21 sugar factories after growers filed similar cases. They alleged that the mills were depreciating the weight of their produce. However, the raids alone have not been able to end the practice.
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In Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, a farmers’ association invested in a weighing scale to prove their point. They decided to check the weight of their produce before sending it to the mills for crushing. Activists have alleged that scales were tampered with in a mill to the effect that farmers lost around 1.5 tonnes for every 21 tonnes weighed.
“Cane growers in Karnataka suffer losses amounting to over Rs. 2,000 crores annually due to faulty weighing,” claims Kurbur Shanthakumar Kabbu, President of Sugarcane Cultivators Association in the state. “There are 78 mills in Karnataka, and most of these use separate weighing machines for (buying) cane and (selling) sugar,” he adds. This, however, is usual, but he implies that there are lapses. Why do they need different scales, he asks.
In Uttar Pradesh, authorities recently warned sugar mill officials of action if such allegations were established. In such cases, mill officials – including unit heads, Chief Finance Officers, and Information Technology personnel – may face action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and The Weights and Measurement Act, 2011. This decision was announced in December following cane growers’ complaints about faulty mechanisms and methods of weighing at sugar mills.
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In the state’s Etawah district, farmer Mukut Singh reiterates that some mills register less weight. He was not able to quantify the amount of the alleged loss but added, “Just imagine that for every tonne of cane, even if a small amount of weight is defrauded using a tampered scale, the kind of money a mill will make through illegal means and the corresponding loss to the poor cultivator.”
According to a farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh, V. M. Singh, the loss can be between “four and ten per cent”. He asks, “why do mills not accept the comparison with a Dharam Kanta (the popular name for an official weighing bridge), which is government approved?”
This is different in some states like Maharashtra and Karnataka, where farmers are compensated according to FRP, or as with the latter, offer a price over FRP. But cane growers in most states allege that their payments are made in parts and that the payments are irregular. “How can we continue cultivation?” asks Mukut.
According to official estimates, the country recorded about 55.73 lakh hectares of area coverage under sugarcane this season. In the corresponding period of last year, it was 55.22 lakh hectares, and thus, the coverage this time was 51,000 hectares more. The higher area was reported from Maharashtra (1.20 lakh hectares) and Karnataka (64,000 hectares), among others. In contrast, it was less in 10 states, including Andhra Pradesh (37,000 hectares) and Uttar Pradesh (35,000 hectares).
Several attempts to seek an official view from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) did not elicit a response. However, a senior functionary of one of the state bodies denied such allegations. “After sugarcane is harvested and left in the open, the sugar content starts drying. This is like 0.5 per cent for 24 hours. Look at it this way, if there is a loss of five to six per cent (in weight for farmers), it (the unaccounted volume) will increase our cost of production. We can’t afford it as we’re already working on thin lines,” he claims. He contends that “sugar-making is a loss-making proposition, and I’m surviving because of ethanol and other by-products”.
Lately, the growth of ethanol in biofuel has supported the mills with faster payments due to reduced working capital requirements, less blockage of funds and lesser surplus sugar with mills. During 2021-22, the revenue of about Rs.18,000 crores was made by sugar mills and distilleries from the sale of ethanol. In the new season, the diversion of sugar to ethanol is expected to increase from 35 LMT to 50 LMT, and this would generate revenues for sugar mills amounting to about Rs. 25,000 crores.
The Union Government does not set up sugar factories in any part of the country, and currently, no such proposal is under consideration. According to a statement of Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State, Ministry of Rural Development and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution in Lok Sabha, “financial conditions of sugar mills have improved and more than 99 per cent of cane dues up to sugar seasons 2020-21 and 97.40 per cent of cane dues for sugar season 2021-22 have been cleared”. However, sugarcane farmers across states complain that they are not part of this growth story and will continue to face losses until the government addresses cultivators' concerns and curbs mill malpractices by owners.
Jayanta Bhattacharya is a journalist with over three decades of experience with many national and international media organisations. He writes on politics, conflict and agriculture. He has extensively covered Afghanistan and many Southeast Asian countries.