Jaggery units suffer loss without industry status

Mandya is one of the largest producers of jaggery in Karnataka and the process is similar to any industry. But, due to lack of interest by the government, jaggery trading is on the brink of decline.

An Aalemane requires vast space, equipment, labourers, water, electricity and others like any industry. But, Aalemanes were not considered as industries, that led to the current situation, causing huge loss to owners and also traders. If the government had considered it as cottage industry, the owners would have been eligible for subsidy and other benefits. With the governments over the decades neglecting this, Aalemanes in Mandya district have become abandoned buildings.

Despite the hardships, Aalemane owners used to produce chemical-free jaggery, which was in great demand across India.

As time passed, around 6,000 Aalemanes in the 1990s has come down to less than 1,000 now. With farmers not showing interest to run jaggery units, they were leased out to people from other states, which sounded the death knell to jaggery production, which was a brand of Mandya.

Before 2006, Aalemanes were under industrial policy and subsidy was provided to the owners. But, after S M Krishna became chief minister, Aalemanes were dropped from the industrial policy, citing shortage of sugarcane for sugar factories. Later, a rule was enforced, that requires deputy commissioner’s permission to operate jaggery units. As the authorities hesitated to issue licenses, huge loss was incurred, said sugarcane crushing unit association president Somashankaregowda.

Irregular power supply is one of the reasons for the loss. We had to run the units with diesel generators, which was expensive, said Nagesh, a unit owner.