Some farmers held a meeting on Sunday against Minister S.S. Mallikarjun accusing him of hatching a conspiracy to close down a sugar factory in Alagwadi village of Belagavi district.
They said that the Minister is using unfair means to scuttle competition from other factories.
The farmers took out a protest rally in Alagwadi village near Raibag. They also held a meeting in the village where farmers leaders addressed them.
The protestors said that the Minister is misusing his authority to close down Askins Biofuels Private Limited in Alagwadi.
Askins Biofeuls buys sugarcane from farmers to produce ethanol and jaggery.
The farmers resolved to support Askins.
Farmers leader Devappa Naslapure said that the Minister is misusing his power and is sending officials to raid Askins to close it down.
Mr. Naslapure said that Askins Biofuels had supported them over the years, by giving fair price for their produce.
“All farmers in the region will stand by Askins Biofuels and oppose any effort by the Minister to close it down. We will go to court, if needed,” he said.
“The Minister recently inaugurated Sri Beereshwar Sugar Factory in Alagwadi village. This unit is said to be owned by the Minister’s family. He wants all sugarcane growers in the area to sell their produce to him. That is why he is creating problems for us,” chairman of Askins Biofuels Ashok Aski told reporters in Alagwadi.
Work on the Beereshwar factory started in 2006, but it was completed this year. It has started crushing operations this season. It has set a target of crushing 21,000 tonnes of sugarcane per day, the highest in the district.
Askins Biofuels jaggery production unit was set up in 2009. It started making ethanol in 2021. Its crushing capacity is far smaller than the Beereshwar unit.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Mayappa Lokure, however, described the issue as politically motivated.
“We will support any factory that pays us the best. We will not get into any such disputes. As a farmers organisation, we only want the best price for sugarcane. We will not get into other issues,” he said.
An email sent to the Minister seeking his response to the charge has not evoked any reply.
