The iconic Mysugar mill (Mysore Sugar Company Ltd.), the State’s first sugar mill and the only one to be run by the government, is set to recommence operations after two years, according to Sugar Minister C.T. Ravi.
Mr. Ravi, who held a meeting here on Tuesday, announced that the mill would commence crushing operations from June 2020. However, the Minister, who had to face the ire of cane growers for conducting a meeting by “keeping them in the dark”, did not clarify whether the State government itself would continue the operations or would privatise it.
Mr. Ravi, who is also the Minister for Kannada and Culture, convened a meeting with officials, elected representatives and some farmers’ representatives at the mill here to discuss the fate of the eight-decade-old sugar mill. Sumalatha, MP for Mandya, M. Srinivas, MLA for Mandya, and K.T. Srikante Gowda, MLC, attended the meeting, while the other six MLAs from the district abstained.
At the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) review meeting held at the Mandya Zilla Panchayat auditorium here on December 23, a resolution had been passed to ask the State to lease out Mysugar and Pandavapura Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane (PSSK) sugar mills. Mr. Ravi said it was thus necessary to gather the opinions of cane growers and mills employees before taking a decision.
The Minister said a decision on leasing out Mysugar would be taken in January. He said that a huge sum of ₹428 crore was spent on Mysugar in the past 10 years and that he would speak to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to conduct an inquiry into financial irregularities at the mill.
Meanwhile, cane growers expressed their displeasure with Mr. Ravi for conducting the meeting without consulting them. They raised objection when the Minister was leaving the place.
Mysugar, which was established in 1934, is considered the source of sustenance for cane-growing families in 102 villages in Mandya, Pandavapura and Srirangapatna taluks. It is among the oldest operating mills in Asia. The mill is registered as a ‘sick unit’ with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction owing to the poor administration, nepotism, political interference and financial irregularities.
The mill, once a rich unit, has already decided to relieve 110 of 390 workers under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). Mysugar has not crushed cane since December 2018 owing to the overhaul issues.
The Sugar Minister also visited the defunct cooperative sector sugar mill of PSSK at Pandavapura on Tuesday. However, his visit lasted just a few minutes. Mr. Ravi assured the sugarcane growers that he would initiate measures to recommence sugar production activities at the mill.
