Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Three Maharashtra, Karnataka Sugar Mills Join PETA India's Bull-Free Movement
Bulls and cows are farm animals that have helped people in many places for a long time.
In parts of India, sugar mills used to make bulls pull very heavy carts loaded with sugarcane.
This work was painful and exhausting for the bulls.
A group called PETA India wanted to help the animals, so it started a movement.
The movement asks sugar mills to use machines like tractors and trucks instead of bulls.
Now, three more sugar mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka have agreed to do this.
They received a special certificate called '100% Bull-Free' from PETA India.
With tractors, each trip can carry up to 18 tons of sugarcane, so the work is much faster.
Because of this, the bulls can rest and the people who work with sugarcane have safer and better jobs.
Three sugar mills from Maharashtra and Karnataka have eliminated bullock labour from sugarcane transport and joined PETA India's 100% Bull-Free movement.
The newly certified mills are Maragur-based Shri Bhimashankar Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane, Solapur-based Utopian Sugars Ltd., and Sangli-based ND Patil Sugars Pvt. Ltd.
Shri Bhimashankar Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane became the first cooperative sugar mill to earn the '100% Bull-Free' certification from PETA India.
The mills aligned with the Sugarcane Industry Mechanisation Project, led by the Maharashtra-based NGO Animal Rahat, to replace animal-drawn carts with tractors and trucks.
PETA India says bulls had been made to pull up to double the legal weight limit using painful devices, while each tractor can carry up to 18 tons per trip, improving efficiency and worker conditions.
- Who
- PETA India, NGO Animal Rahat, and three sugar mills: Shri Bhimashankar Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane, Utopian Sugars Ltd., and ND Patil Sugars Pvt. Ltd.
- What
- The mills eliminated bullock labour from sugarcane transport and received PETA India's '100% Bull-Free' certification, replacing bull-drawn carts with tractors and trucks.
- When
- Not specified in the articles.
- Where
- Maharashtra and Karnataka, India, specifically Maragur (Karnataka), Solapur, and Sangli (Maharashtra).
- Why
- To end animal abuse in sugarcane haulage and meet growing buyer demand for ethically sourced, animal-free, fully mechanised supply chains.
- Movement
- PETA India's '100% Bull-Free' movement
- Newly certified mills
- Shri Bhimashankar Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane (Maragur, Karnataka), Utopian Sugars Ltd. (Solapur), ND Patil Sugars Pvt. Ltd. (Sangli)
- First cooperative mill certified
- Shri Bhimashankar Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane
- Earlier certified pioneers
- Jai Hind Sugar Pvt. Ltd. and Lokmangal Mauli Mill Ltd.
- Mechanisation partner
- Sugarcane Industry Mechanisation Project by Animal Rahat
- Tractor capacity
- Up to 18 tons per trip, replacing multiple bulls
- Animal welfare concern
- Bulls routinely carried up to double the legal weight limit; handlers used spikes, nail-studded devices, barbed wire, and nose ropes
- PETA India spokesperson
- Dr. Kiran Ahuja, senior manager of corporate projects