In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Smt. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya informed that sugar mills, including several leading cooperative units, received Rs 9,005 crore under the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) for modernization, cane development, co-generation, and ethanol/Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) projects.
Cooperative sugar mills across Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka figured prominently among the beneficiaries during 2020-21 and 2021-22. Punjab’s Bhogpur Cooperative Sugar Mills, Maharashtra’s Dwarkadhish Sakhar Karkhana and Sadashivrao Mandlik Kagal Taluka SSK, and Karnataka’s Nandi Sahakari Sakkare Karkhana received substantial assistance for co-generation and ethanol capacity enhancement.
The Minister highlighted that though the SDF loan scheme was closed on 21 September 2021, all proposals that had already received administrative approval before that date continued to be processed. No administrative approval is pending now, she added.
A total sugar cess of Rs 12,834 crore was collected up to June 2017, of which Rs 10,196 crore was transferred to the SDF and utilised for various support schemes. The remaining cess amount was moved to the Consolidated Fund of India after GST implementation. Since 2018-19, expenditures under SDF have been met through regular budgetary provisions.
The data underscores the critical role of cooperative sugar mills in India’s ethanol production and rural industrial growth.
