Vellore sugar mill seeks action on competitors over supply row

The move was in reaction to the Ambur and Tirupattur sugar mills failing to divert 35,000 tonnes and 12,300 tonnes respectively to the Vellore facility. While the Ambur unit should have supplied at least 1000 tonnes of sugarcane daily, “we receive only around 500 tonnes or even less daily while the Tirupattur unit, which should send around 250 tonnes, sends around 100 tonnes a day,” sources said.

The reduced supply from the two mills has been reportedly due to the two mills trying to find avenues which are remunerative to themselves.

It may be recalled that Tirupattur mill officials had revealed a month ago that they had also signed an agreement with the Harur (Dharmapuri district) sugar mill to supply cane. “How can a cooperative institution behave thus when they have clearly signed an agreement based on a State government directive to divert their load to the Vellore mill,” mill officials here rued.

The Vellore mill, which is now crushing its own cane from its own registered inventory of 58,000 tonnes, is soon expected to have another 50,000 tonnes diverted to it from the Tiruttani cooperative sugar mill in Tiruvallur district. This comes following cane farmers there reportedly refusing to send their cane to the Tiruttani unit as the mill paid cane farmers only Rs 1500 a tonne against the Central government’s FRP (Fair and Remunerative Price) of Rs 2612 per tonne, sources said. “This is because the mill management failed to inform farmers that the Rs 1500 was only the first instalment,” sources in Vellore said.

Meanwhile, the Vellore mill with its 2500-TCD (Tonnes Crushed Daily) capacity has started canvassing farmers to send their unregistered cane to the mill while mill chairman M Anandan has requested District Collector A Shanmuga Sundaram to set up two flying squads to ensure that unregistered cane loads from Vellore district do not go to either Kancheepuram or Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.