Sugar mills owed Rs 9,340 crore to sugarcane farmers till January 15 for the current marketing year that started in October, Parliament was informed today.
That apart, Rs 488.88 crore were outstanding to farmers pertaining to previous years.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Food Minister K V Thomas said that arrears for the current marketing year relate to the supply of sugarcane.
“The reason for cane price dues of the previous years includes matters being sub-judice before the courts, mills taken under Securitisation Act by lender Banks, etc,” he said.
According to the data for 2012-13 (October-September), Uttar Pradesh millers owe maximum to farmers at Rs 5,456.35 crore, followed by Karnataka (Rs 1,655 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 426 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs 390 crore), Gujarat (Rs 362 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 308 crore), Bihar (Rs 275 crore) and Uttaranchal (Rs 271 crore).
Payments worth Rs 199.23 crore were still pending for the 2011-12 marketing year and Rs 289.65 crore for 2010-11 and earlier, taking the total cane price arrears to Rs 9,828 crore.