Goa's lone sugar factory not operational bidders cold to redevelopment plan Minister

Panaji, Jul 27 (PTI) The lone sugar factory in Goa, which was inaugurated by the state's first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar, is not operational and a plan to redevelop it as an ethanol manufacturing facility has also not received any response, state agriculture minister Ravi Naik said.
In a written reply tabled in the assembly on Friday, Naik said the Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (SSSKL), a state run enterprise located in Dharbandora village in south Goa, is being run by an administrator in the absence of a board of directors.
"A request for qualification (RFQ) was invited for redevelopment of SSSKL into an ethanol manufacturing unit under public private partnership mode but no bidders came forward. It has 91 permanent, 78 contractual employees and one daily wage staffer. They have been given salaries till April this year through state government funds," he said.
For the crushing season 2019-20, SSSKL paid farmers Rs 1200 per metric tonne (MT) of sugarcane, while the government gave an additional Rs 1800 per MT as assured price and Rs.600 per MT as harvesting charges.
The state government has provided Rs 3600 per MT to farmers whose sugarcane remained unharvested during crushing season 2019-20.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)