Yamunanagar sugar mill to begin crushing on Nov 16

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, November 10

The management of the Saraswati Sugar Mills (SSM), Yamunanagar, has decided to start its crushing operation on November 16.

Last year, the mill had started its operation on November 24. Farmers of 672 villages associated with the mill are happy with the decision as they will be able to sow the wheat crop timely on 25,000 acres after harvesting the sugarcane crop.

With a crushing capacity of 1lakh quintal per day, it is one of the largest sugar mills of the country. The command area of the mill is about 90,000 acres (comprising Yamunanagar and parts of Ambala and Kurukshetra).

“This year, we are starting the crushing operation a week earlier as compared to the last year. At the time of cane planting, we assured the farmers of an early start of crushing during 2021-22 season,” said DP Singh, senior vice president, Saraswati Sugar Mills.

He said the mill had crushed 162 lakh quintals of sugarcane last year. This year, they had set a target of 175 lakh quintal, he said.

“In the last crushing season, we paid Rs 565 crore to sugarcane farmers and there is no payment pending,” said DP Singh. He said the management of the mill would ensure farmers had a trouble-free cane crushing season.

Satpal Kaushik, a progressive farmer, said the decision to start the crushing operation a week earlier as compared to the last year was good, but in future, all mills of the state should start crushing on November 1.