The Government of Telangana has decided to take back three erstwhile Nizam Sugar Factory (NSF) units from the private managements after compensating them and run them as cooperative mills from the next crushing season. The government will also revive the Nizamabad cooperative sugar unit.
Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy stated here on Thursday that farmers under these sugar factories had called on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao earlier this month. The Chief Minister had assured them of taking back the units, repairing them and running as cooperative units from the next crushing season.
He had also agreed to pay Rs. 360 incentive per tonne of sugarcane to farmers from the government side as they were being paid only Rs. 2,240 per tonne against most of the sugar factories paying Rs. 2,600 per tonne. The erstwhile NSF units privatised at Madhuranagar (Metpally), Shakkarnagar (Bodhan) and Mombojipally (Medak) would be taken back.
Besides, the cooperative sugar factory at Sarangapur (Nizamabad) would be revived by the government, repairs would be carried out in all the four units and run as cooperative mills so that the farmers had a sense of ownership. The farmers would be helped to improve sugarcane yield by introducing new methods of cultivation being followed successfully in Maharashtra, the Minister said.
Mr. Srinivas Reddy said he had led a delegation of farmers to study new methods of sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra, on January 19 and 20, where a large number of farmers were found to be getting yields of 100 to 110 tonnes of sugarcane per acre against 30 tonnes in Telangana.
