A number of sugar companies in India are awaiting government approval for loans from the Sugar Development Fund to set up co-generation power units or ethanol plants.

Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture said that as many as 30 proposals from sugar companies are currently pending with the government for loans from the Fund.

The leading private sector companies that have applied for loans include Bajaj Hindustan, Shree Renuka Sugars, Mawana Sugars, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Uttam Sugar and DCM Sriram.

The applications are either for co-generation units or for ethanol plants for sugar factories.

So far, the ministry has only cleared five proposals for SDF loans.

Officials said receipt of applications for SDF loans for consideration of the government, through the standing committee on SDF, is an on-going process.

"The applications are examined and loans sanctioned or rejected throughout the year," a senior official pointed out.

In the ethanol sector, the loan application of Simbhaoli Sugar Mills has been pending since September last year.

The ten sugar mills that need fund from SDF for setting up ethanol plants include Bajaj Hindustan and Uttam Sugar.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told the Parliament that the input cost of sugarcane growing has gone up in Uttar Pradesh and reduced in Maharashtra.

Input costs of cultivation of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh has gone up to Rs 23,652 per hectare in 2006-07, which is the lowest in the country, from Rs 18,845 per hectare in 2004-05.

The input costs in Maharashtra, which is the highest, however, has come down to Rs 49,211 every hectare from Rs 50,382 during the review period.