PANAJI
The 46-year-old government-owned lone sugar factory Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd (SSSKL) which is suffering heavy losses will get a financial boost package from the government to temporarily sustain itself.
This financial package will be given by the agriculture department in four installments for the particular financial year. The agriculture department scheme of a financial package for the Sanjivani sugar factory has been recently notified.
The package will be for the wages of employees, sugar factory building repair and maintenance, machinery maintenance and harvesting charges to the sugarcane farmers. Some of the grants will be to bring under cultivation the unutilized land in the plant compound.
The plant is set up on total of around 15 lakh square metres of land in Usgaon-Tisk. As per the notification, the factory has sent a financial requirement proposal for the year to the agriculture department. This proposal will be examined by the agriculture department and the required funds will be released in four stages. As per the draft of the scheme, the agriculture minister will be the final authority to approve the grant. The Sanjivani sugar factory has to untilise this money in the same financial year.
The factory or the karkhana established in 1973 is continuously running under losses and losses have reached a figure of over Rs 101 crore. The government has appointed an administrator to look into the management of the Sanjivani sugar factory at Dharbandora.
The factory never made profits in its 46-year-tenure except of minor profits for seven years - in 1989-89, ‘89-90, ‘91-92, ‘93-94, ‘95-96 and ‘96-97.
The State government in September 2020 transferred the Sanjivani Sugar Factory from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to the Agriculture Department for its smooth functioning.
The chief minister at that time had assured the sugarcane farmers that the State’s sole sugar factory will not be shut and that the government will soon be exploring various options to make the factory operational.
