Sugar Mills Seek State Aid to End Worst Impasse: Corporate India

Sugar mills in India, the world’s largest producer after Brazil, are betting on government subsidies to end the biggest industry shutdown in the nation’s history and stem losses at companies.

Mills in Uttar Pradesh, the state that is India’s biggest cane producer, will call off the shutdown only if the government agrees to pay part of the cane price to growers, M. Srinivaasan, president of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, said in a phone interview yesterday. Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd. and Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd. are among those that want the state to bear about 20 percent of the cane costs, he said.