Sugar mills also have grievances: Karnataka minister

Satish Jarkiholi, Karnataka’s PWD minister and Congress leader, who is among those who own a sugar mill. | Photo credit: File photo

It is not only the farmers but also the sugar mills who have some grievances. The Union and state governments have to resolve them, Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who owns a sugar mill, said in Belagavi on October 26.

“Chief Minister DK Shivakumar will meet factory representatives and farmers at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi today. Farmers will present their issues to him and we will present our issues. We will see what happens,” he told reporters.

“None of the demands raised by the sugar mill owners have been met by the Union or state governments. We have been seeking revision of the minimum selling price for more than seven years. This has not happened. This will infuse liquidity into the factories, which will be able to pay more to farmers.”

“Sugar mills have not yet received payment from the state power companies for the electricity they have supplied to the cogeneration grid. We are demanding that the Karnataka government draw up a power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years. The factories have asked for a reduction in the prices of water supplied to them. We have submitted such demands to the chief minister but they remain unfulfilled,” the chairman said today.

“The director has promised to solve the problems of the factories and farmers for which he called these meetings today. I appreciate his gesture and thank him. The CM must take a big picture and take steps to solve the problems of both the stakeholders. I am sure the government will try to find a solution that will suit all,” he said.

Published – 26 Oct 2026 12:28 IST