44 sugar factories have cleared farmers' dues: Minister

Cooperation Minister H S Mahadeva Prasad on Wednesday said 44 of the 66 sugar factories in the state had cleared dues to sugarcane farmers.

Speaking to reporters, he said the government had offered to give exemption in payment of purchase tax and road tax for two years to the factories if they pay up the dues. The deadline to avail the offer was July 31 this year. Of the total Rs 2,033 crore dues, the factories have cleared Rs 1,840 crore. The dues were pending since 2013-14, he added.

He said the government will incur a total loss of Rs 335 crore for having given tax exemption to factories. Strict action will be taken against the factories that have not cleared the dues, he added. The minister said the Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation had taken up a Rs 795-crore project to build warehouses in 267 places in the state.

The total capacity of warehouses in Karnataka will increase to 25 lakh metric tonnes from 14.17 lakh metric tonnes after the completion of the project, which is funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, he added.