UP seeks raise in import duty on sugar.

LUCKNOW: UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took part in the meeting called by Union agriculture minister on bailout package for the sugar industry and demanded to implement interest subvention scheme at the earliest that would pave way for a interest free loan of Rs 2000 crore for sugar mills in UP. He said that the Centre should include cess and surcharge on excise duty as part of the scheme. He also said that loan should be given to mills under condition that they will use it only for the payment of pending Rs 2,300-crore arrears towards farmers.

Yadav said that it was not only in the interest of industry but also that of farmers should be kept in mind while framing any sugar policy in future. He said that import duty on sugar should be increased from 15% to 30% and buffer stock of the sugar should be 20 lakh tonne. He also said ethanol blending in petrol should be increased from 5% to 10 %. The state government has been squarely blaming the Centre for the cane crisis in UP that not only got prolonged but also led to violent protest by the opposition.

UP Sugar Mills Association ( UPSMA) on Friday welcomed the initiatives announced by the Central government to help the sugar industry overcome the severe financial crisis it is going through. The group of ministers on Friday announced a bailout package wherein interest free loans would be provided to the cane industry.

The association in a statement said in UP the first step shall be to clear the arrears of farmers. UP sugar industry would also like to produce the new product "raw sugar". This will add to the product mix and will help in grabbing opportunities as and when they arise.

UP Sugar Industry looks forward to rationalising the cane price mechanism by adopting a revenue sharing formula as a transparent long term solution, the association said.

Sugar mill chief engineer hangs self

A 57-year-old chief engineer allegedly hanged himself at his official quarter after facing problems at work. Chaitanya Kumar Srivastava was chief engineer in Kisan Sahkari Chini Mill, Sultanpur. He lived alone and allegedly hanged himself on Thursday night. He was apparently upset after work at the mill came to a halt on Thursday following a turbine failure which he could not rectify and was being held responsible for, reports said. The body has been sent for postmortem and his family in Lucknow has been informed, police said.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com