Sugar industry crisis due to government apathy: Mandlik

Kolhapur, July 12 (UNI) Senior NCP leader and MP Sadashivrao Mandlik today alleged that the Union government was totally responsible for the crisis in the sugar industry.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr Mandlik said the sugar rates collapsed due to government apathy that adversly affected sugar factories, forcing them to sell sugar at low rates, which was not affordable to them.

Last year, the Union government had imposed a ban on export of sugar, resulting in huge stocks that remained unsold. Ultimately, sugar factories were pressed into serious problems, said Mr Mandlik, the founder chairman of a co-operative sugar factoy here.

The government also failed to encourage sugar factories to go for co-generation and make use of cane for manufacture of ethanol, he said.

The long pending demand for the Kolhapur-Konkan railway project failed to take off due to lack of political will, he alleged and added he would soon meet Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in this connection.

UNI