Sugar factories revival remain bitter reminder of unfulfilled promises of Congress in Telangana

Efforts to revive Telangana’s historic sugar factories, particularly the Nizam Sugar Factory (NSF) and the Nizamabad Cooperative Sugar Factory (NCSF), have made no headway so far

Hyderabad: Efforts to revive Telangana’s historic sugar factories, particularly the Nizam Sugar Factory (NSF) and the Nizamabad Cooperative Sugar Factory (NCSF), have made no headway so far. Even as Congress leadership generated some hope among traditional sugarcane growers by assuring special focus on reopening these factories under a time bound programme, tangible progress remains elusive.

Once Asia’s largest sugar factory, NSF ceased operations due to financial losses and declining sugarcane production. During the 2023 Telangana elections, Congress incorporated NSF’s revival into its manifesto, with Rahul Gandhi promising to reopen sugar factories and strengthen sugarcane farming. After coming to power, A Revanth Reddy formed a Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, to explore solutions.

The committee was tasked with studying financial challenges, pending arrears, and farmer needs. The Congress-led government indicated an allocation of Rs 43 crore to clear outstanding bank loans related to NSF, but this was viewed as bait to lure the farmers before the parliamentary polls last year. It is argued that full revival would require an investment of Rs 700 crore.

In an effort to develop a sustainable revival plan, the government hired a consultancy firm to draft a roadmap for reopening the Bodhan unit, with a report expected in early 2025. Officials also identified sugarcane farmers in Nizamabad, Medak, and Karimnagar to ensure future production could sustain factory operations. But the initiative has lost steam while the farmers too have lost hope of going back to sugarcane cultivation.

As the sugarcane growers started questioning the government on the revival plans, Congress leaders tried to placate them by setting new deadlines. But as of today, none of these factories have resumed production. For the farmers, the delay has had severe economic consequences. The closure of NSF forced many to either transport their sugarcane to private factories in Kamareddy or abandon the crop altogether in favour of paddy cultivation.

Despite Telangana’s high sugar recovery rates, the lack of operational processing units has made sugarcane farming unremunerative for many.

Several farmers, including members of Rythu Aikya Vedikas, have been questioning the delays. They have not seen any hope during the last sugarcane crushing season. And they see no big hope for the ensuing season either. With the fate of NSF and NCSF hanging in the balance, sugarcane farmers are thinking in lines of taking recourse to agitational methods.

A traditional sugarcane farmer from the NFC area, who requested anonymity, explained that the farmers continued to raise sugarcane and supply to private factories including the one in Kamareddy. But the logistics and transportation costs have been making the effort unremunerative. Expressing his frustration over the unfulfilled promises of the Congress government, he said the cost of the lands owned by the sugar factories have gone up by over 200 times in the last 10 years.

The lands owned by the Bodhan factory are in the vicinity of the bustling urban sprawl. The political leaders in high places seem to be more interested in the real estate value of the lands rather than the long term interests of the sugarcane growers. It is time to safeguard not only the farmers’ interests, but even to save the lands with the factories, prime assets of the State, the farmers insist.