From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Sep 14: Large and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh R Nirani promised in the State Legislative Council to convene a meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for the revival of the Mysugar factory at Pandavapura in Mandya district along with representatives of farmers and elected representatives of the region.
Replying to a debate under Rule 330 in the Upper House on Tuesday pertaining to the sugar factory on behalf of Sugar Minister Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, he said a decision will be taken on revival of the factory after the current legislature session.
“I am declaring on the floor of the House that I will not bid for the Mysugar factory. Let there be no doubts in the minds of anybody,’’ he said.
The Minister contended that he had taken over running the factory during the Covid pandemic period and reopened it when nobody was willing to do so. "I did it to protect the interests of farmers,’’ he said.
Nirani said he is yet to get the lease deed documents despite spending Rs 50 crore on reopening and running the factory. "My intention is only to help the farmers and cane growers to ensure that they did not suffer due to closure,’’ he said while becoming emotional in the face of allegations against him.
The minister said he had taken steps to reopen the closed factory within 90 days and had spent Rs 50 crore without even getting lease deed papers.
Nirani pointed out that several sugar factories in the State were under loss and were on the verge of closure. These factories include M K Hubballi, Sankeshwwar Ranna and many other factories were virtually under 'coma', he said and wanted to know who was responsible for such a sad state of affairs.
He explained that the cane growers must be paid in time within a specific period after crushing the cane and the salaries of employees must be paid. "We have done all this and protected the interests of farmers and still face allegations,’’ he regretted.
The Minister pointed out that 75% of even the profits must be spent on payments to farmers, employees, revival and for creating infrastructure facilities as per the report of the Retired IAS Officer Rangarajan. The sugar factories must be run without depending entirely on the State Government, he said demanded that steps must be taken to set right the lapses and ensure better management.