Kathmandu, January 4
Letters have been written to the farmers to block the land and bank accounts of the five
industries that have not paid the sugarcane money. This information was given by Industry,
Commerce and Supplies Secretary Dinesh Kumar Bhattarai during a discussion held at the
Accounts Committee under the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
According to Commerce Secretary Bhattarai, the ministry has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Home and Finance to block the bank accounts and land of Himalaya, Shri Ram, Lumbini, Annapurna and Indira Sugar Mills.
”Five mills are yet to pay Rs 87 million to the sugarcane farmers. We are working to make them commit to the payment,” said Secretary Bhattarai. Stating that it is time to fix the price of sugarcane, he said that the production is declining due to the problem seen in sugarcane.
Secretary Bhattarai said that the farmers who were becoming self-reliant were being pushed towards dependency as the number of industries was reduced from 29 to eight.
During the discussion, Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Puskar said that an immediate decision could not be taken to remove the VAT on sugar.
He said that even though discussions were held to include it in the last replacement bill, it was not ready to be done immediately.
Agriculture Secretary Govind Sharma said that the price of sugarcane has been sent to the
cabinet and a decision will be taken on Wednesday.
By Karuna Thapa
