Govt mills paid over `1 lakh crore to sugarcane growers in last 3 years: Yogi

LUCKNOW: Government mills in Uttar Pradesh have paid Rs 1,00,325 crore for sugarcane bought from 47 lakh farmers of the state in the past three years, which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said is a record.

Speaking at a programme organised at his official residence to pay Rs 418 crore to sugarcane farmers through direct benefit transfer (DBT), the Chief Minister said the state government's efforts in the interest of sugarcane growers yielded a record payment to them of more than Rs 1 lakh crore from 2017 to 2020, an official release said here on Friday.

The government is constantly working to double the income of farmers. The last three years have been a golden period in the history of Uttar Pradesh's sugar industry when such a huge amount is being paid directly to the farmers account through DBT. No previous government has paid this much amount even during its 5-year tenure, the CM said. Interacting with some farmers through video conferencing at the event, he said that apart from record payments being given out, there was also record production of sugarcane and sugar.

In the current crushing season in 2019-2020, the sugar mills of the state have crushed 1,116 lakh tonnes of sugarcane and produced 126.5 lakh tonnes of sugar.

While the previous governments had shut down sugar mills, our government got them started again. There used to be three sugar mills in Gorakhpur and all were closed during the tenure of previous governments. But after we came to power, the sugarcane department established a new sugar mill at Pipraich (in the district), he said.

“The lockdown on account of Coronavirus was a challenge for farming. Sugarcane and wheat crops were standing in the fields. We also had to consider the interest of farmers while preventing infection. We decided that we would procure wheat and sugarcane, while complying with all the lockdown rules,” Adityanath said.