Punjab Government would go all out to convert its loss making cooperative sugar mills into the complexes manufacturing sugar besides other things such as ethanol, power and liquor as per the availability of the sugarcane at various places across the state.
As per the decision, the closed down cooperative sugar mills at Tarn Taran, Zira and Patiala, will be restarted with the assistance of private sector.
The decision was taken on Monday during a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee formed by the State Government for giving recommendations aimed at increasing the production in sugarcane and sugar sectors.
The meeting saw the Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, Rural Development and Panchayat and Urban Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Cooperation and Jail Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Registrar Cooperative Societies Vikas Garg, Sugarfed managing director Devinder Singh and Cane Commissioner Jaswant Singh in attendance.
Giving details of the meeting, Randhawa said that the special invitee in the meeting, National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories’ managing director Prakash Naikanware explained in detail the policy constituted by the Union Government with regard to ethanol and also the present state of sugar industry in Punjab.
The meeting also saw the brainstorming pertaining to planning about measures to be undertaken so as to ensure financial self-dependence of cooperative sugar mills of Punjab.
Apart from this, the plans with regard to modernization of loss making cooperative sugar mills of the state to bolster their financial health, production of ethanol through establishing distilleries and setting up co-generation plants, were also approved in the meeting.
Randhawa said that in accordance with the plan, a state-of-the-art sugar plant having 5,000 TCD capacity and a distillery with 100 KLPD capacity would be coming up at Gurdaspur which would produce ethanol and power apart from sugar.
Not only this, but a modernized sugar plant of 3500 TCD capacity with provision for increase up to 5000 TCD would be established at Batala which would produce power besides sugar. There is also a proposal in the pipeline to modernize the cooperative sugar mills at Ajnala and Morinda.
Randhawa said that it was also decided in the meeting to prepare a plan for making joint efforts by Agricuture Department, Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana, Cane Commissioner and SUGARFED in collaboration with the research organizations of the Central Government regarding making available high yielding varieties of sugarcane, having more content of sugar, to the farmers of Punjab.
These varieties would go a long way in improving the financial condition of the sugarcane farmers as well as the cooperative sugar mills.
Randhawa added that it was also considered in the meeting that since most of the sugar mills are located in the border areas, their revival and modernization can very well spell a huge economic boom for these regions.