Karnataka: Cabinet panel not for 40-year lease of MySugar

Under pressure from farmer groups, the government is likely to drop its plan of leasing the iconic MySugar company for a 40-year period.

A Cabinet sub-committee has recommended that the factory resume under operations and maintenance (O&M) model and a tender will be floated shortly for the same.

Sugar Minister Shivaram Hebbar, who is part of the sub-committee, told DH that MySugar Company will be run under the O&M model for the next ten years. "The committee has submitted its recommendations to the government. A final decision will be taken in the Cabinet," he said.

The government's proposal to lease the factory, which was established in 1934, was met with stern opposition from farmer groups, and several elected representatives had petitioned the state government against the decision.

Earlier, the government had leased another factory from the Mandya district - the Pandavapura Sahakara Sakkara Karkhane (PSSK) - to Nirani Sugars, owned by BJP legislator Murugesh Nirani.

Hebbar said that following a decision - in one of the next two Cabinet meetings - the government will float tenders for parties to operate the beleaguered sugar factory. The members of the Cabinet sub-committee include Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Horticulture Minister Narayan Gowda and others.

It can be recalled that though the factory was hit by operational issues, protests were held against leasing the factory to private firms, in Mandya. The protesters had demanded that the government operate the factory under O&M model, so that farmers' interests are safeguarded.

Following the protests, the government had assured that the 86-year-old factory will not be privatised, and Hebbar had announced that it would be either run by the state or under the Public-Private partnership model.