Mathura (UP), Apr 2 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh's Minister for Sugarcane Development and Sugar Mills Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary on Sunday said that the state government will ensure that sugar mills pay the dues of sugarcane farmers within a week.

"At present, sugarcane farmers in 105 sugar mills of the state are getting payment within 10 days," he told reporters.

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Hitting out at the opposition parties, Chaudhary said, "During previous governments, ensuring prompt payment to sugarcane farmers was considered a difficult task."

He informed that over Rs 2.04 lakh crore has been paid to farmers for their sugarcane produce within a period of six years.

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The minister said Rs 21,620 crore has been paid to farmers till March 31 against the crushing of 930 crore tonnes of sugarcane this season.

He said at present 96 sugar mills with high production are running in the state.

Chaudhary said instructions have been issued to keep all these mills running till the sugarcane of all the farmers is not crushed.

According to the minister, the state is on the top in producing ethanol in the country and efforts are being made to pave the way for farmers to run their tractors with this renewable fuel.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)