Cane farmers in the command area of Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mill, Tiruppur, are in a fix over committing their produce to the unit as the State Government is yet to sanction ₹160 crore for replacing the old and defunct machinery.
Last year, the unit procured sugarcane from its command area encompassing Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Dindigul and redirected the produce to the other mills. This time, the mill has reached out to the farmers to source the cane. However, the reluctance of farmers to supply their produce to the mill in the absence of direct production activities is palpable, industry sources said.
For replacing the old machinery, which was installed in 1955, the State Government had proposed a modernisation plan at an investment of ₹160 crore, in two phases of equal funding. However, the delay in sanction of the first-phase funding by the government despite the efforts of the people’s representatives has disappointed the farmers.
According to the farmers, the government ought to have accorded priority for the modernisation project as the recovery rate of sugar in the western region is 11 per cent, stated to be the highest across the State.
Meanwhile, the distillery unit is into the process of extracting rectified spirit and ethanol, by sourcing molasses from other mills in the State.
