Patna: On Nov 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the revival of two sugar mills at Sakri in Madhubani and Raiyam in Darbhanga district, Bihar sugarcane industry minister Sanjay Kumar said on Wednesday.Addressing the media at the I&PRD hall in Patna, Kumar said the Sakri and Raiyam mills would be operated by the cooperative department. He said the state govt aims to open 25 new sugar mills in Bihar over the next five years, as part of efforts to expand cane-based industry and support farmers.The minister, accompanied by department secretary Dharmendra Singh and cane commissioner Anil Kumar Jha, said sugar mills in Bihar had cleared 100% of sugarcane dues to farmers for the 2025-26 crushing season. The total payment made stood at Rs 2,137.83 crore, he said.On the proposed revival of Sasamusa Sugar Mill in Gopalganj, Kumar said the state cabinet had recently approved payment of outstanding principal sugarcane dues of Rs 43 crore from previous crushing seasons to farmers in the Sasamusa area. The move is expected to facilitate reopening of the closed mill and attract investors for its revival, he added.Referring to the Motipur Sugar Mill in Muzaffarpur, Kumar said the state government had approved a proposal to take possession of 266 acres of land belonging to the closed unit from M/s Indian Potash Ltd. A new sugar mill, a sugarcane research centre and other industrial units will be established on the land, he said.Asked about the reopening of Marhaura Sugar Mill, Singh said he could not comment on the matter because it is pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). He said the government was trying to resolve the issue quickly to enable the mill to reopen. The mill near Marhaura could be reopened if 50 to 100 acres of land became available nearby, he said.Singh said the government was taking steps to raise sugarcane productivity, increase acreage and improve the sugar recovery rate. Bihar’s recovery rate is 10.3 at present, which he described as better than the national average in sector.
