‘Sweet amidst the sour’: Karnataka government orders financial aid for ailing Nandi, Bheema and Krishna sugar mills

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed officials of the Finance Department to prepare a detailed plan to provide financial assistance to Krishna Cooperative Sugar Mill in Athani, Belagavi, Nandi Cooperative Sugar Mill in Baleshwara constituency of Vijayapura district and Bheemashankara Cooperative Sugar Mill in Indi Taluk.

This decision was made public recently by MB Patil, District in-charge Minister for Vijayapura and Industries Minister, Government of Karnataka.

Patil made the statement after participating in a meeting convened by the Chief Minister on Monday to discuss support for cooperative sugar mills.

He pointed out that cooperative sugar factories were under severe financial stress due to various factors, including repayment of term loans, payments to farmers, sugarcane harvesting costs, transportation expenses, and the establishment of sugar production and power generation units.

During the meeting, it was suggested that financial assistance be provided either through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) or through bank guarantees.

According to Patil, Krishna Cooperative Sugar Mill requires Rs 192 crore, Nandi Sugar Mill Rs 150 crore and Bheemashankara mill Rs 130 crore to sustain operations.

If the proposed assistance is extended, the mills will be equipped to use the revenue generated from power production to repay their loans, Patil stated.

He further mentioned that Krishna Mill plans to set up a 27 MW co-generation (cogen) plant, while Nandi Mill aims to establish a 37 MW capacity unit. Additionally, both Krishna Mills and Bheema Mills have expressed interest in setting up an ethanol production plant on their respective premises.

The Chief Minister has also instructed that a meeting be held with the Commissioner of Sugar and officials from the NCDC in this regard, Patil added. He assured that all efforts would be made to provide the support required to get their mills up and running.

The meeting was attended by Ministers HK Patil, Shivananda Patil, HC Mahadevappa, Indi MLA Yashavantaraya Gowda Patil, Beelagi MLA JT Patil, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, Chief Minister’s Financial Advisor LK Atheeq,  Energy ACS Gourav Gupta, and Finance Secretary PC Jaffer.

Nandi Mill Chairman Kumar Desai Jainapura, Nijalingappa Sugar Company Managing Director Rajagopal and other senior officials were present.