Kovur sugar factory workers approved for ₹22 crore in unpaid wages

Workers of the now-defunct Kovur sugar factory are set to receive ₹22 crore in unpaid wages after waiting for 11 years. The State government recently sanctioned the amount and issued an order approving payment of the outstanding wages. Kovur MLA Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy welcomed the decision at a press conference in Nellore on Sunday.

The MLA appeared with beneficiaries at a party office, where they performed a traditional milk offering on a portrait of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to mark the announcement. She said the government order demonstrated its intention to resolve long-standing problems.

Reddy said she became aware of the workers’ concerns after being selected as the Kovur MLA candidate ahead of the elections. She said she had promised to find a solution if elected and that the approval of the payment fulfilled that commitment. She also credited her husband, Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, with helping advance the issue.

According to the MLA, he had pursued the matter and consulted Industries Minister T.G. Bharath Gupta and District Collector Himanshu Shukla on the development of the IFFCO Kisan SEZ. The source material does not specify when individual workers will receive the money or how the payments will be distributed.

It identifies the government order as the formal approval for the ₹22 crore wage settlement. Reddy also said the government would soon make a decision about the future of the defunct sugar factory. She described the expected decision as potentially good news for local young people, but did not provide details about any proposed use or reopening plan.

The payment ends an 11-year wait for the workers, while the future of the closed facility remains pending a government decision.