Unscientific Deduction
Haveri
Sugarcane growers across the state have voiced strong resentment over the unregulated wastage deductions imposed by sugar factory owners. Many factories have been deducting up to eight percent per tonne, causing severe losses to farmers. Despite no such stipulation in government policy, factory owners have continued this illegal practice for years, exploiting cane growers through an unwritten system.
Siddalingappa Kalkoti, a farmer from Koradur village, alleged that all factory owners are making such unlawful deductions. He supplied cane to Shamanur Sugars Limited in Duggavati, but eight percent of his supplies were cut under the pretext of impurities. In 2024, though the factory’s records showed 568 tonnes, he received payment for only 522 tonnes. The 46-tonne deduction translated into a loss of ₹1,18,147 at ₹2,569 per tonne.
Kalkoti noted that he had supplied about 500 tonnes in both 2020 and 2022, and 450 tonnes in 2023, each time facing the same deduction. His cumulative losses now exceed ₹6 lakh. “Are such deductions sanctioned by any government regulation?” he questioned.
Another grower, Ravikumar Savanur, said no rules permit such cuts, yet the practice is rampant across factories including Shamanur Sugars, Mailar Sugars, GM Sugars Sangur, and Vijayanagar Sugars Mundaragi. Calling it a “thousand-crore scam,” he demanded urgent state government action against the factory owners, accusing them of deceiving farmers on a massive scale.
