Rautahat, January 19 With the government fixing the price of sugarcane, sugar industries have resumed their operation in various districts of Tarai. Sugarcane price was fixed during a meeting of Sugar Producers’ Federation and the Ministry of Industry. Sugar industries came into operation after the price of sugarcane was determined during a meeting between representatives of Federation of Sugar Producers and officials of the Ministry of Industry. Earlier, the federation had set a condition for the government to fix sugarcane price before the sugar industries resumed operation. Some of these industries are preparing to purchase sugarcane from farmers. Reliance Sugar Mills and Chemical Industries in Bara, Sarlahi’s Indusankar Sugar Industry, Mahalxmi Sugar Mills in Godaita and Everest Sugar Mills in Mahottari have come into operation, according to the federation’s central member Kapil Muni Mainali. There are 14 sugar mills in Nepal. Of them, Bageswori Sugar Mills in Mahendranagar, Kanchnapur, and Mahakali Sugar Mills have already resumed their operation. “Nawalparasi’s India Sugar Mills, Bagmati Sugar Mills, Lumbini Sugar Mills, Sarlahi’s Annapurna Sugar Mills and Sunsari’s eastern Sugar Mills are readying to come into operation. Nepal consumes 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of sugar a year. Sugar industries had produced 1.77 lakh metric tonnes of sugar by crushing 2.6 crore metric tonnes of sugarcane last year in the country.  Last year, the government had fixed per quintal sugarcane price at Rs 531. This year, the price has been fixed at Rs 556 per quintal, according to Mainali. An agreement has been made to pay sugarcane farmers for their produce within 30 to 45 days.