All about the bleeding sugar co-operatives

A powerful cartel of politicians across political parties has created an empire of co-operative sugar mills. The mills, in the name of helping lakhs of farmers receive massive government subsidies and large tracts of land virtually for free. The mills borrow money from co-operative banks never to be returned, and the politicians first bankrupt the mills and then conspire to take private ownership at throwaway prices. TR Vivek is in conversation with BusinessLine's correspondent in Pune, Radheyshyam Jadhav about the unfixable rot in the State's sugar sector.