New Delhi, Dec 11: The cane dues of Rs. 17301 crores were outstanding against the sugar mills as on July 15. Since then, Rs. 10,620 crores have been paid to the sugarcane producers up to Nov 15.
The payment of cane dues is an ongoing process and the dues position changes continuously on account of fresh supplies received and payment made for previous supplies. As such, it is not possible to indicate time line by which the full amount would be paid, said Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan in Rajya Sabha today.
He said that funds amounting to Rs. 4151 crores were disbursed under Soft Loan Scheme which were credited directly into farmer’s account. It helped in reducing the cane price arrears. With a view to facilitate clearance of cane price arrears of sugarcane farmers, the Central Government has taken several other initiatives also.