MARDAN, March 14: The administration of the Premier Sugar Mills, Mardan, has decided to close the mill for the current season because of high expenditures and low income. An official of the mill said that a few weeks before the closure of the mill, they had purchased cane from growers worth Rs5.7 million but it hardly produced 4,000 50kg bags of sugar.He said the mill’s electricity bill had reached Rs15 million a year and it had also to pay gas and fuel bills. The mill’s overall annual expenditures, according to him, were more than Rs60 million.

He criticised the growers’ attitude, claiming that when the price of Gur (raw sugar) was high in the market, they stopped supply to the mill, causing it losses.

Naimat Shah, a noted grower of Mardan, rejected the version of the mill administration and challenged them for a debate on the sugarcane issue.

He also refuted the mill officials’ claim that sugar yield from cane had decreased. He said cane was standing on a large area in the Mardan district and if the administration closed the mill, growers would suffer huge losses and they would not be able to meet their expenditures and sow the next crop.

He also criticised government agriculture policies, saying prices of various fertilisers had been increased manifold and growers could not afford them.