Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has started an initiative to revive and modernise Aska Cooperative Sugar Mill. For this, a task force comprising senior officers of Agriculture, Finance, Cooperatives, Excise and Water Resources Departments will be formed, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi gave these instructions while presiding over a meeting held at Lok Seva Bhawan on Tuesday for the revival of Aska sugar mill.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister said that this sugar mill is old, and many farmers depend on it. Therefore, steps need to be taken to improve and revive it.
The proposed task force will visit Maharashtra and other states, study the systems there and give their informed opinions. Based on its report, the Chief Minister said the Aska sugar mill would be revived.
It is worth mentioning that the Aska Cooperative Sugar Mill was established in 1956. Sugar production started here in 1963. Later, its capacity was increased and other products were also being produced along with sugar. However, it is not currently profitable, and hence, the new government has started taking steps to revive it.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment and Energy Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo; Minister for Excise, Works and Law Prithviraj Harichandan; Minister for Handlooms, Textiles, Handicrafts and Cooperatives Pradeep Bala Samanta; Minister for Industries and Skill Development and Technical Education Sampad Chandra Swain; Aska MLA Saroj Kumar Padhi, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Nikunj Bihari Dhal, Secretaries of Finance, Agriculture, Cooperatives and Excise Departments and Ganjam District Collector were present in the meeting and gave their well-considered opinions.
