Chikkamagaluru/Madikeri: In a whiff of relief to the debt-ridden coffee planters of Karnataka, Union finance minister Nirmala Seetharaman has assured that no coffee estate will be auctioned online under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act.A delegation led by former PM and Rajya Sabha MP H D Deve Gowda, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Shrinivas Poojary, and coffee industry stakeholders visited the minister and explained how the estates were being auctioned to foreigners. However, an official order to stop the process is pending. Sitharaman has instructed banks to immediately halt the online auction of coffee plantations, according to Karnataka Growers Federation (KGF) president Halse Shivanna. Banks had listed several coffee estates in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts for auction under the Act. There was also an opportunity for an eligible person to buy coffee plantations through online auction. However, there was strong opposition to this from the growers. They feared that foreigners buying plantations would affect local life and culture. In cases where loans were taken from banks and financial institutions and not repaid on time, properties, other than those related to agriculture, could be sold off under the SARFAESI Act and without any court intervention. In many cases, owners were unaware of the auctioning of their properties until the registration process. Shivanna said hundreds of estates were earmarked for auction as the owners failed to repay the loan due to financial hardships. Now, the Union finance minister has directed officials concerned to stop the auction process immediately. This has come as a huge relief for planters, Shivanna added. A team of KGF, including vice-president K K Vishwanath and Chikkamagaluru district president K U Ratheesh, approached Karnataka MPs seeking their intervention. The finance minister responded sympathetically, saying she would thoroughly review the use of the SARFAESI Act for recovering coffee farm loans.
