Pondy to give 1,130 per tonne of sugarcane: CM

Puducherry,Apr 2(UNI)The administration would provide last year's price of Rs 1,130 per tonne of sugarcane to farmers supplying cane to the Lingareddippalayam Co-operative Sugarmills, initially and fix the price for the year after the triprtiate committee meeting, Chief Minister N Rangasamy told the Legislative Assembly today.

Replying to a question, Mr Rangasamy said the members were well aware the mill was functioning at a loss and sought the cooperation of the legislators to make it a profit-making unit.

In the surrounding area,the co-operative sugar mill was giving the highest cane price and the government had initiated a plan to set up a distillery in the premises of the sugar mill in a bid to make it profit-making.

However,this was objected to by the villagers who were preventing the movement of the sugar from the mill.

Intervening, Agriculture Minister V Vaithilingam said the Cane Commissioner was very much here and his role was to control the area viz preventing the supply of cane to other mills.

In respect of the Ariyur Sugar Mills,the Chief Minister said they had obtained a Supreme Court order which said the government should not fix cane price in the mill and directed the payment of Rs 20 crore fixed earlier by the government.

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