Patna: The Bihar government will revive two of the state’s nine closed sugar mills and operate them through the cooperative department, Cooperative Minister Pramod Kumar said on Tuesday. The move is part of the government’s decision under the “Saat Nischay-3” programme to restart nine old sugar mills and set up 25 new ones across the state, reports The Times of India.
Speaking at a press conference at Vikas Bhavan, Kumar said proposals had been received to restart the Sakri sugar mill in Madhubani and the Raiyam sugar mill in Darbhanga. He said the cooperative department would prepare separate plans for each mill once they are officially handed over to the department.
The minister said the state government had earlier decided to revive nine closed sugar mills and establish 25 new ones as part of its development programme. He added that it was also decided that two of these mills would be operated directly by the cooperative department.
The press conference was attended by cooperative department secretary Dharmendra Singh, additional secretary Abhay Kumar Singh, and other senior officials.
Secretary Dharmendra Singh said the department would begin detailed planning only after the two mills are formally transferred to it. He added that the cooperative department was in touch with the sugarcane industries department to complete the process.
Singh said a high-level committee led by Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit had recently decided that the cooperative department should take responsibility for running the two sugar mills, and preparations were already underway.
As of 2025, Bihar has 18 closed sugar mills, of which 15 were earlier operated by the Bihar State Sugar Corporation. In November 2025, the NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar approved a plan to revive nine of these closed mills and set up 25 new ones. A high-level committee headed by the chief secretary was formed in December to monitor the work.
Of the nine mills selected for revival, seven—Raiyam in Darbhanga, Sakri in Madhubani, Samastipur, Motipur in Muzaffarpur, Marhaura in Saran, Barachakia in East Champaran, and Chanpatia in West Champaran—are in the public sector. The remaining two, Motihari and Sasamusa in Gopalganj, are in the private sector.
