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Lucknow, Nov 29 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is trying to turn sugarcane into 'green gold' through ethanol.
With the efforts of the government, Uttar Pradesh has become the highest (126.10 crore litres annually) ethanol supplying state in the country.
A total of 50 distilleries are making ethanol. Last year, two mills were making ethanol from heavy molasses. This year, the number has increased to 20.
The sweetness of sugarcane, which has been bitter for farmers due to mounting arrears during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party governments, has now returned. The policies of the Yogi government are set to further increase its sweetness.
Uttar Pradesh is the largest sugarcane producing state in the country. Nearly 51 per cent of the total area of sugarcane and 50 per cent of the production and 38 per cent of the sugar production is in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the government spokesman, out of the total sugar mills in India, 119 are in Uttar Pradesh.
Out of about 48 lakh sugarcane farmers, more than 46 lakh supply their sugarcane to the mills. The sugar industry here employs about 6.50 lakh people directly and indirectly.
The spokesman said that state-of-the-art new mills, increased capacity of old mills, khandsari units and ethanal are going to further promote the sugarcane industry.
He said that the outstanding cane dues were a major issue before the Yogi Adityanath government was voted to power in March 2017.
The state government has paid more than INR 1.12 lakh crore as dues so far.
Apart from the payment of dues, the government placed maximum emphasis on modernization of old mills and establishing of new mills. In this order, capacity of 11 mills was increased and new mills with state-of-the-art capacity were installed at Pipraich in Gorakhpur, Mundera in Basti and Ramala in Baghpat.
For the first time after 25 years, a government also made an arrangement to issue online licenses to Khandsari units within 100 hours to crush sugarcane at the local level.
It also had units already under its purview. According to the government, at present, licenses have been issued to 105 units, increasing the crushing capacity.
The state government also held a 'Jaggery Festival' in Muzaffarnagar to promote its consumption.
To make jaggery more useful through processing, the government has also declared jaggery a 'one district one product' in Muzaffarnagar and Ayodhya.
The Yogi Adityanath government also created a new record of revenue growth by producing 177 lakh litres of sanitizer during a period of nine months in the corona period.
From March 24 to November 15, the state's sugar mills and small units produced a record amount of INR 137 crore by producing a record quantity of 177 lakh litres of sanitizer.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given clear directives that as long as there is sugarcane in the field, sugar mills of that area should run. Along with crushing and payment, the government also set a record in the area of sugar recovery (11.46 per cent).