Riga Sugar Mill Revival: Locals Speak On Change And Challenges Ahead Of Bihar Polls

Riga Sugar Mill Revival: Locals Speak On Change And Challenges Ahead Of Bihar Polls TOI spoke to residents of Riga about the reopening of the town’s sugar mill in December 2024 after a four-year closure. Locals said the revival has restored jobs and improved incomes in the area. Cane manager Deepak Tiwari said the mill plans to crush around 30 lakh quintals of sugarcane this year and added that farmers in the region remain largely dependent on the mill for their livelihood. Bihar’s sugar industry, which produced nearly 30% of India’s sugar in the 1980s with 28 functioning mills, now has only nine operational units. In the ongoing Bihar assembly elections, BJP’s Baidyanath Prasad is contesting against Congress’s Amit Kumar from the Riga seat. In 2020, BJP’s Moti Lal Prasad had won from her