KARACHI, May 19: Sugar mills in Sindh have been asked to pay outstanding dues worth Rs10 billion to growers within a week, or face legal action. The mills were required to pay these dues to growers by April.

Sindh Cane Commissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch told Dawn on Monday that dues accumulated due to payment of cane price less than the one fixed by the government.

The minimum purchase price was Rs67 per maund up to Jan 20, and Rs63 per maund till the close of season in April, but the mills bought cane from growers at Rs60 per maund.

After Jan 20 when the fixed rate was reduced to Rs63, the mills paid Rs57 per maund to growers, which resulted in accumulation of dues.

Another notice accuses mills of not complying with the requirement of submitting fortnightly report on payment made to growers. A third notice asked the mills to explain why they did not pay the minimum fixed cane price.

A further notice charged mills for not supplying receipts of cane arriving at their mills to suppliers. They are also accused of deducting illegally from the cane quantity arriving at their mills under the pretext of quality.

Mr Baloch pointed out that as a result of non-payment, growers were facing problems and they were not able to grow next crop.

He claimed that in many areas, growers have decided to sow cotton instead of sugarcane, which is expected to create a cane shortage for the next crushing season. These areas include Tando Mohammad Khan, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar, etc.

Meanwhile, sugar production in the province this season (2007-08) stood at over 1.569 million tons compared to 1.065 million tons last year.

The amount of cane crushed during the season was 16.8 million tons with the recovery rate at 9.29 per cent.

According to figures released from the office of the cane commissioner, Habib Sugar Mills Nawabshah was on top by producing 123,064 tons of sugar, followed by Al-Noor Sugar 98,113 tons, Ghotki Sugar Mills 90,917 tons and Sakrand Sugar Mills 81,096 tons.