Pune: National Congress Party (NCP) Chief and Chairman of Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) Sharad Pawar said, “The year 2018 will be economically challenging for sugar producers in the State due to various reasons and hence, they should start doing their financial planning in advance.” He was talking during the 41st annual meet of VSI in Manjari Budruk on Tuesday. 

Pawar highlighted the changing economic scenario for sugar producers and stressed that they should also think of generating higher revenues by producing ethanol. Criticising the government’s recent decision of paying different transport rates to farmers, Pawar said that the decision is not in favour of farmers.

“The government has decided to pay farmers differential transport rates based on the distance travelled by them. However, equal rates should be paid to farmers based on the distance travelled by the farmers,” Pawar added. 

The former Union minister for agriculture said that the production of sugar in the coming year is expected to be high in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh which will add to the economic challenges for the industry. “With low prices of sugar in our country, there is very less probability of India importing sugar from other countries. The coming crushing season will be challenging for the industry and hence, there is a need to find ways to cut the cost and increase the revenue,” Pawar said. 

Speaking on different waiver schemes and policy friendly measures for the industry, Pawar said that people should not expect anything from the current government. “We are in talks with the State and Central government on various problems.” Pawar said.