Govt releases Rs 50 cr to compensate sugar cane farmers

Bangalore, Aug 30 (UNI) The Karnataka government has released Rs 50 crore to compensate the sugar cane growing farmers, whose crops remained uncrushed, Minister for Sugar S A Ravindranath said today.

Talking to newspersons here, he said it was proposed to pay Rs 10,000 per acre of uncrushed sugarcane.

He said the Department had received claim for Rs 19 crore from six districts so far. The government was yet to receive the claims from the farmers of Mandya, Mysore and Chamarajanagr districts, he added.

The state government had announced the compensation to the farmers following a bumper crop of sugarcane this year and inability by the sugar factories to lift them for crushing.

The government had decided to give the Hiriyur Sugar Factory on lease to a private party in an attempt to revive the factory, which remained closed for the last 10 years.

UNI