Save rice mills, Centre urged

Our Correspondent
Ferozepur, July 30

Members of the Basmati Rice Milling Industry (MSME) have urged the Union Government to take immediate remedial steps to safeguard their interests and save the rice mill industry from the verge of closure.

Ashok Grover, a Jalalabad-based rice miller, said they had submitted a memorandum to Union Minister for Food Processing and Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal expressing concern over the dipping procurement price of paddy. While talking to The Tribune, Grover said before crop year 2007-08, basmati rice manufacturing industry was restricted in only two districts of the state. “However, with the introduction of Basmati 1121 almost one-fourth of paddy farmers switched over to that variety of basmati instead of tradition non-basmati,” he said, adding that subsequently a parallel basmati manufacturing industry mushroomed after upgrading their existing units.

All these units installed state-of-the-art imported equipment and machinery after taking loans from financial units/ banks, he said.

Sources revealed that there had been a sudden fall in the price of basmati due to which millers was suffering losses. “Rice millers who had liabilities towards banks and other lenders as well as other unsecured creditors have not been able fulfil them due to which banks/ lenders have initiated recovery measures against a majority of the mills which has created panic in the industry,” said Grover.