PESHAWAR, Jan 2: Expressing concern over the state of sugar industry in the province, NWFP Minister for Finance Farid Rehman has urged the sugar mill owners and the farming community to settle their differences about the sugarcane support price amicably.

He assured a meeting convened on the request of sugar mill owners and representatives of the farming community that whatever decision was taken by them would be acceptable to the government.

He urged the participants of the meeting to explore the ways and means to revive the dwindling sugar industry and suggest steps to enhance per acre production of sugarcane in the province.

Provincial Minister for Food and Agriculture Abeedullah Jan, secretary food and agriculture, representatives of sugar mill owners, office-bearers of various farmers associations of the province attended the meeting.

About sugar mill owners’ request to exempt the industry from sales tax enabling it to enhance sugarcane support price and to ensure smooth supply of sugarcane to the mills, Farid Rehman said that he would take up the matter with the federal government.

Referring to the complaint of representatives of farming community about the purchase of sugarcane by Chashma and Bannu Sugar Mills below the indicative price, the provincial finance minister constituted a committee headed by the minister for food and agriculture to look into the matter and redress the grievances of farmers belonging to the southern districts.