Business Standard reports cooperative banks of Uttar Pradesh had lost Rs 5,747 crore to the sugar sector during the 2018-19 crushing season. This involved Rs 4,492-crore of regular loans to sugar mills and Rs 1,255 crore in soft loans given under various central and state government schemes.
UP cooperative minister Mukut Bihari Verma says cooperative banks have made a significant contribution in tackling the problem of farmers’ arrears by giving loans to mills.
However, given cooperative banks serious financial problems, the Yogi govt is toying up with the idea of merging them into a single entity.
Mills owe about Rs 9,000 crore to sugarcane farmers in the state.