Amarpur (Banka, Bihar): The Bihar government has begun efforts to boost sugarcane cultivation across the state, with plans to bring more than 300,000 hectares under sugarcane farming in the near future. As production increases, the process of restarting closed sugar mills in the state, along with setting up new mills, will also begin, said Bihar’s Sugarcane Industries Minister Sanjay Paswan, reported Live Hindustan.
The minister made these remarks on Sunday while speaking at Amarpur. He said local residents informed him that sugarcane was earlier grown in large quantities in the Amarpur region, and efforts would be made to restart cultivation in the area.
Paswan said he visited Amarpur while returning from Tarapith, following a request from Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) district president Baby Yadav. During the visit, he met LJP and NDA workers. He was welcomed and felicitated with garlands and bouquets by party leaders, including BJP district vice-president Neelam Singh, LJP leaders Surendra Sharma, Vineet Sah, Shambhu Mahato, Sunny Kumar Saha, and others.
Local workers told the minister that Amarpur once had extensive sugarcane cultivation, which supported hundreds of jaggery units and traditional crushers in the region. They said Amarpur jaggery, known for its quality, was in high demand in places such as Kolkata in West Bengal and parts of Jharkhand. However, due to a lack of support and facilities from the government and the department, sugarcane farmers and jaggery unit owners have suffered, pushing this cottage industry to the brink of closure.
Assuring the workers, Paswan said the government is focusing on increasing sugarcane production throughout Bihar and that Amarpur would also be included in these efforts. Responding to local demands, he said the possibility of setting up a sugar mill in Amarpur would also be considered.
A large number of people, including Rohan Sah, Vikram Kumar, Varun Madhukar, Saurabh Kumar, Ganesh Lal Das, Prakash Paswan and Shankar Paswan, were present on the occasion.
