In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said that Indian Potash Limited (IPL), on the suggestions of the Ministry of Cooperation, has taken an initiative for the revival of closed Cooperative Sugar Mills.
The Minister stated that the Government has issued a clarification that cooperative sugar mills would not be subjected to additional income tax for paying higher sugarcane prices to farmers up to the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) or State Advised Price (SAP) from April 2016 onwards.
He further said that under the Union Budget 2023–24, sugar cooperatives have been allowed to claim as expenditure the payments made to sugarcane farmers for the period before the assessment year 2016–17, providing a relief of more than Rs 46,000 crore.
Amit Shah also informed that the Government has launched a scheme through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for setting up ethanol plants, cogeneration plants, working capital support, or for all three purposes. Under the scheme, the Ministry released Rs 1,000 crore to NCDC- Rs 500 crore in FY 2022–23 and Rs 500 crore in FY 2024–25, and NCDC has disbursed Rs 10,005 crore to 56 Cooperative Sugar Mills.
