The agitating sugarcane cultivators attached to the Thirumandankudi Private Sugar Mill in Thanjavur district have sought a CBI probe into the ‘illegal bank loans’ availed in the name of cane cultivators by the previous mill management in collusion with the bank officials.
The cane cultivators were on a relay demonstration under the banner of Thamizhaga Karumbu Vivasayigal Sangam, Swamimalai, for the last few weeks exhorting the State government to bale them out of the ‘₹300 crore loan burden’ thrust on them by the previous mill management which had lost its hold over the Thirumandankudi Sugar Mill in view of an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal based on an application filed by the consortium of banks headed by the State Bank of India.
The consortium of banks has made a plea before NCLT for the recovery of loans to the tune of around ₹160 crore extended to the former mill management of Thirumandankudi Sugar Mill in 2016 through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.
The NCLT in May this year approved the ₹145 crore plus liquidation expenses offer of compromise or arrangement submitted by the new management which is operating distillery and brewery units in the nearby Pudukottai district.
As the CIRS process has “technically” solved the debt issues raised by the consortium of banks, the real issue of releasing the cane cultivators from the “illegal loan arrangement” entered into by the previous mill management and the bank…
