Union minister Amit Shah said in Gujarat on Saturday that while farmers are known as “annadaata” or food givers, by adding electricity generation to sugar mills through ethanol production, they will become “urjadaata” or energy givers as well. Shah was speaking at a public function in Kodinar town of Gir-Somnath district.
Shah, the Union Cooperatives Minister, said, “In every sector, the cooperatives ministry has taken initiative and opened doors of development for more than 60 crore farming families. Under one such initiative, Indian Potash Limited (IPL) whose 60 per cent ownership is by cooperative societies, will reopen the three sugar mills.”
Shah made the remarks while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of two out of three sugar mills that had shut down almost a decade ago: Shri Talala Taluka Sahakari Khaan Udhyog Mandali Limited in Talala, Shri Bileshwar Khaand Udhyog Khedut Sahakari Mandali Limited in Kodinar, and Shri Valsad Sahakari Khaand Udhyog Mandali Limited in Valsad.
Speaking about the potential of biofuel, Shah said, “The public sector sugar mills producing ethanol are not only ensuring food security but are also bringing the petroleum import bill down, thus making our farmers global biofuel producers. Because the moment ethanol production goes beyond local consumption levels, we will be selling it in the global market through exports.”
“Today, the IPL has made an auspicious beginning, bringing light to the lives of 10,000 people and I am sure that when these sugar mills go up to full capacity, the prosperity of the farmers in Kodinar and Talala will also increase,” Shah added.
Speaking on the plans to reopen and modernise these factories, Pankaj Kumar Bansal, the chairman of IPL, said, “IPL was asked to check the feasibility and reopen these three sugar mills. The mills in Kodinar and Talala were closed since the last eight years. Bank loans of Rs 350 crore and government dues were paid off. We will now reopen and modernise them. We aim to begin operations at both plants by November 1, 2025. In the next two years, we will invest Rs 600 crore more for the installation of green power plants and two new distilleries to produce biofuel.”
With sugarcane being infamous as a water-guzzling cash crop, Shah made an appeal to the farmers to save water. “The initiative to save water was spearheaded by Gujarat. We built 1.5 lakh check dams. I appeal to sugarcane farmers to join with IPL and district cooperative banks to adopt drip irrigation. While the cooperative leaders are here, I want to tell them that [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi has fulfilled his promise. Now, it is on all of us to adopt drip irrigation and save water,” he said.
Speaking of the work done by the NDA government in the Centre, Shah said, “Nobody has done as much as Modiji for farmers. The Congress always talked about the farmers. Today I want to ask the Congress. In 2013-14, the Manmohan government was in power but what was the budget for farmers? Just Rs 22,000 crore. Such a large country, a population with 60 crore families dependent on agriculture, but just Rs 22,000 crore. After Modi came to power, in 2023-24, the farmers’ budget was Rs 1.37 lakh crore. The BJP’s Modi government gave a six times larger budget, and the agricultural loan, which was Rs 8.5 lakh crore, is today at Rs 25.50 lakh crore.”
He added, “Today, when farmers buy Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer, you feel like the price has stayed the same. But no, in the global market, the price of DAP has gone up by three times as much. But in India, in the last 10 years, the price of a sack of DAP has remained the same because the rest of the amount is paid for by the Modi government. Many other initiatives, like increasing the limit of Kisan Credit Card from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, have been done by Narendra Modi, the son of Gujarat.”
