Devendra Fadnavis: Amit Shah assured sugar mills won’t face action for paying above FRP

The Centre announces FRP, the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to cane growers every year before the start of the sugarcane crushing season

Former Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that Union cooperation minister Amit Shah has assured them that no cooperative sugar mill in the state will have to face action by the income tax (I-T) department over providing fair and remunerative price (FRP) more than what is declared by the Centre. Fadnavis said that the cooperative sugar mills have been receiving I-T notices for paying increased FRP for over a decade and that Shah has assured to resolve the problem at the request of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Devendra Fadnavis also defended the action by the central investigation agencies against various sugar mills in the state in the backdrop of I-T raids conducted against multiple sugar mills linked to deputy CM Ajit Pawar. (HT FILE)

Fadnavis and other BJP leaders met Shah to discuss the issues related to the cooperative sector in New Delhi on Tuesday.

“We requested him [Shah] for a permanent solution as for the past 15-20 years, cooperative sugar mills have been facing issues after receiving I-T notices for paying more than the declared FRP… Every year they get I-T notices, resulting at the beginning of the seizure process, which has to be stayed. We requested Amit Shah saheb to resolve the issue once and for all by coming up with a permanent solution. The Union cooperation minister promised us a positive decision, which will come as a big relief for the sugar mills,” Fadnavis told reporters in New Delhi after the meeting.

The Centre announces FRP, the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to cane growers every year before the start of the sugarcane crushing season.

The leader of opposition also defended the action by the central investigation agencies against various sugar mills in the state in the backdrop of I-T raids conducted against multiple sugar mills linked to deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The Nationalist Congress Party leadership has alleged that they have been targeted to bring the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in trouble.

Fadnavis said the central agencies will take action where misappropriation of funds, corruption or black money is involved. In many cases, action was taken on court’s directives, he said. “If there’s a case wherein action by agencies is found to be taken against someone innocent, one can say Centre is doing it to put pressure on them. But when I-T department comes up with details on how ₹184 crore was generated to buy properties, then the picture is clear. The agencies are doing their work properly. The Centre has no such policy [to put pressure on anyone] and it doesn’t discriminate [among people].”