The Telangana Cotton Miller’s and Traders Welfare Association has appealed to the State government to waive fixed electricity charges of the ginning mills for the entire lockdown period as well as release pending subsidies.
In a letter to Industries Minister K.T.Rama Rao, the Association said ginning mills were going through an extremely difficult financial situation ever since the COVID-19 triggered lockdown began.
With no revenue, delayed receivables and piling up financial costs “we are not in a financial position to procure cotton from farmers and pay them timely,” president Bommineni Ravinder Reddy said. Telangana is the third largest producer of cotton in the country. There are 320 ginning mills in the State, he said.
Noting that the government support for the mills will “help us continue employment to thousands of people and source cotton from farmers at good prices,” he said the fixed electricity charges waiver should not be limited to two months. The charges should be waived for the entire lockdown period.
The Association also appealed for release of pending subsidies to the mills. Mr. Reddy said the amount due to the mills is around ₹400 crore and pending since 2010. Though an assurance on early release of subsidies was given, when the ginners went on a strike in November, “we have not yet received them,” he said.
