Tamil Nadu investors inspect closed Marhaura sugar mill

Patna: The initiative taken by the state govt to restart the Marhaura sugar mill, which has been closed for years, now started becoming visible on the ground. Investors from Tamil Nadu on Sunday inspected the closed Marhaura sugar mill located in Saran district.

They assessed the current condition of the mill premises and the infrastructure available there. They also discussed the problems with sugar cane farmers, a state govt official said here on Sunday.The NDA govt has started work under the ‘Saat Nischay-3’ programme towards restarting the closed sugar mills as well as establishing 25 new sugar mills in the state.“On the initiative of the state govt, SNJ Group of Companies’ chairman and managing director S N Jayamurugan, vice-chairman Krishna, and the group’s auditor Bimalendra Mishra, along with officials of the sugar cane industry department, on Sunday inspected the Marhaura sugar mill and assessed its current condition.

During the visit, the delegation met with farmers of the area, held a brief discussion on issues related to sugar cane production, and observed the condition of sugar cane crops in the fields,” the official said.The state’s assistant cane commissioner Vedavrat Kumar and cane officer Komar Kanan were also present during the inspection.The Marhaura Sugar Mill (originally Cawnpore Sugar Works Ltd) was established in 1904 in Saran district.

It was the first sugar mill in Bihar and one of the oldest in India. The mill operated for nearly a century before shutting down in 1997-1998 due to management issues, labour disputes, and a lack of modernisation.During its peak, Marhaura was an industrial centre, housing four major units: the sugar mill, Morton Confectionery (famous for its sweets), Saran Distillery, and Saran Engineering Works. The closure directly impacted over 20,000 farming families and roughly 1,500 factory workers, leading to widespread unemployment and migration from the region.