The package drafted by NFCSF would then be presented before a committee formed recently for reviving sick co-operative sugar mills across the country.

In fact, all the 19 sugar factories belonging to the co-operative and public sector in Tamil Nadu are in a deep financial mess with accumulated losses expected to touch Rs 700 crore for the fiscal ended 1999-2000.

Sandwiched between highly uneconomical cane prices announced by a populist state government on the one hand and poor realisation from sugar on the other, these mills have been bleeding badly for the last few years.

For the last two seasons they had to rely heavily on the state government's ways and means advance to pay the cane price and for the the current season (1999-2000) too they have sought a grant of Rs 165 crore from the state government.

The sugar department had prepared a revival package for some of the mills more than a year ago but the government has not acted on it. The delay has only resulted in more mills being added to the list. If well placed government sources are to be believed, position of some of the mills in the list are so bad that they may never be turned around and some may even not commence crushing next season.