Chandigarh, February 15, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
With a view to expanding the base of cooperative sector institutions of Punjab, the State Government has offered to supply the sugar produced in its cooperative mills to the Himachal Pradesh Government.
The offer was made today by the Cooperation Minister, Punjab, S. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa during his meeting with the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Mr. Jairam Thakur at Himachal Bhawan. The Cooperation Minister said that the initiative would drastically reduce the transportation cost for supplying sugar to Himachal from cooperative mills of Punjab as Punjab is the neighbouring State of Himachal Pradesh.
The CM of Himachal Pradesh Mr. Jairam Thakur directed the Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department, Himachal Pradesh to work on the proposal. He also suggested to S. Randhawa to submit a comprehensive proposal courtesy Sugarfed mentioning the financial aspects. He also said that the Himachal Pradesh Government would actively consider every point of the proposal and then arrive at a conclusion.
On the occasion, S. Randhawa said that the cooperative sugar mills of Punjab produce 20 lakh quintal of top quality sugar annually. He also divulged that Punjab has the capacity to meet the demand for sugar which is distributed in Himachal Pradesh through Public Distribution System (PDS).
Divulging more, S. Randhawa further said that many sugar mills of Punjab such as the ones at Gurdaspur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Morinda are situated close to the Himachal Pradesh border. Also, Punjab is nearest to Himachal for supplying sugar.
On the occasion, S. Randhawa presented samples of Jaggery, Sugar produced by the cooperative sugar mills of Punjab besides the products manufactured by Markfed and Milkfed. He also added that Sugarfed will also explore possibilities of supply packaged sugar in 1 kg and 5 kg packs and Gur & Shakar in 1 kg packs under “FATEH “ Brand to Himachal State.
The higher officials from Himachal Pradesh also exhibited a great deal of interest in the products manufactured by the other institutions of Punjab’s cooperative sector such as Mustard Oil, Edible Oil, Cattlefeed and those manufactured by Milkfed. They also asked Punjab to frame a proposal for exploring cooperation in this sphere.
Among others present on the occasion included Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department of Himachal Pradesh Mr. Amitabh Avasthi, Vice Chairman HP State Civil Supplies Corporation Mr. Baldev Singh Tomar, Chairman, Sugarfed Mr. Amrik Singh Aliwal, Registrar Cooperative Societies, Punjab, Mr. Vikas Garg, MD, Sugarfed Mr. Puneet Goyal and Deputy Chief Engineer, Sugarfed Mr. Kamaljit Singh.
