Sugar factory continues to face financial constraints

Kadapa : The fate of Kadapa Cooperative Sugar Factory (KCSF) at Chennur, near here is hanging in balance due to paucity of funds and differences between farmers and  factory management.  A number of families belonging to employees and farmers have been facing hardships due to the uncertainty. 

During the recent cabinet meeting, it was decided to pay pending dues of employees totaling Rs 11.50 crore. But no assurance was given by the government to the employees in this regard to re-open the sugar factory. 

The KCFS was set up at Dondapeta village of Chennuru mandal in 1970 with the view of boost sugar cane cultivation and to provide  employment opportunities to the unemployed youth and farmers in the district. The State government had invested Rs 1crore and about 7,500 farmers invested Rs 80 lakhs then as their share capital.

The then chief minister Jalagam Vengala Rao inaugurated the KcSF on February 28, 1977. However, for the past 39 years, crushing had never done to its full capacity of 1,250 tonnes due to various reasons. Due to lack of adequate quantities of sugarcane to crush, the factory remain closed between 1995 to 2005.

The factory was seized as loan taken for its operations were not repaid  and the institutions which lent the money took to legal course.  On the other hand, sugar factories in other places in both private and cooperate sector  fared well and improved their performance. 

Considering the plight of sugarcane growers in the district, the then chief minister Dr YS Rajasekahr Reddy revived the factory by clearing its barrowings of around Rs 15crores and investing another Rs 4 crore in the factory.  In 2005-06, the factory crushed 14,000 tonnes of  sugarcane and the one lakh tones in the  year 2006-07.