The Karnataka government has issued recovery certificates against 15 sugar mills in the state for non-payment of cane dues to farmers. Going forward, the state government is likely to slap recovery certificates on more sugar mills. It may also seize stocks of factories, which do not pay cane dues. Some new notices will be issued in a day or two. As of Jul 18, mills across Karnataka owed 10.46 bln rupees to sugarcane farmers for the 2017-18 (Oct-Sep) season. Sugar mills have to make payments to farmers within 14 days of cane purchases, failing which the amount is counted as arrears. Karnataka is the third-largest producer of sugar in the country and is estimated to produce around 3.7 mln tn of the sweetener in the ongoing season.