The Finance Department has approved ₹50 crore financial aid for resumption of sugarcane crushing operations at Mysore Sugar Factory in Mandya also called as ‘Mysugar’, during the year 2023-24.
In a statement, Dinesh Gooligowda, Congress MLC, said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had responded promptly to an appeal made by him and Ravi Ganiga, Mandya MLA, and directed the finance department to approve release of ₹50 crore for resumption of crushing operations at the State-run Mysugar.
The operations at Mysugar had been suspended ever since the sugar factory became sick a couple of years ago. The crushing operations resumed last year and the BJP Government had announced a financial aid of ₹50 crore, but released only ₹32 crore, Mr. Dinesh claimed.
With crushing operations set to resume in June, Mysugar factory was in dire need of funds for not only payment of wages for harvesting sugarcane and repair of equipment, besides working capital.
Sugarcane had been cultivated in more than 10,000 hectares of land falling in the jurisdiction of Mysugar while 5,745 farmers had entered into an agreement with the sugar factory for supply of more than five lakh tonnes of sugarcane.
While the factory immediately required ₹18.54 crore for payment of wages to the labourers for harvesting sugarcane, repair of equipment and clearing of outstanding salary to the staff, the factory required a working capital of around ₹35 crore, Mr. Dinesh said.
He said former Minister P.M. Narendraswamy, who represents Malavalli Assembly segment in Mandya, Ravi Ganiga, who represents Mandya assembly segment and himself had thanked Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy for the State Government’s gesture.
