Mandya: MySugar factory in town, the lifeline of sugarcane growers of the district which stopped its operations from April 21, 2015 for various reasons, resumed its operations on Wednesday with Factory Managing Director Dr. J.C. Prakash launching the crushing of sugarcane by feeding a few canes to the crusher.

The re-opening of the factory however was kept low-key as Chief Minister Siddharamaiah is expected to formally re-open the factory on a grand scale on July 11.

Speaking to reporters later, Prakash said that the factory was symbolically re-opened after checking all the machines and to get over any teething problems.

He added that the CM would formally launch the re-opening and also restart the co-generation unit of the factory.

To bring back the factory on track, the State Government has released over Rs. 136 crore and an agreement has been made with the farmers to supply 1.8 lakh tonne of sugarcane. About 3.5 lakh tonne of cane in Pandavapura and Sri Rama Sugar factory belt are available to  the factory, explained Prakash.

Briefing further, Prakash said that the factory is offering a price of Rs. 2,550 per tonne of sugarcane and an advance of Rs. 1,000 per tonne is offered to the farmer. He further said that the distillery unit of the factory needs to be revamped with an investment of Rs. 6 crore which will be taken up next year.

Somashekar of Sathanur, the first farmer to bring loads of sugarcane was accorded a  warm welcome.