UK to declare sugarcane price on Jan 23: Minister
PrashantNews
The Uttarakhand government on Friday said it will declare the state advised price (SAP) for sugarcane for the season 2023-24 in the next cabinet meeting on Jan 23.
“The state cabinet will decide the SAP for sugarcane in its next meeting on Jan 23,” Sugarcane Minister Saurabh Bahuguna said.
Two days ago, Uttar Pradesh raised its cane price of all varieties by Rs 20. The rate for the early variety will be Rs 370 per quintal.
The pressure has been mounting on the state government to declare its own price. But Bahuguna said the government would declare the cane price in the next cabinet meeting now as there was some problem when the issue came up in the last cabinet meeting.
Bahuguna however said all dues of sugarcane farmers have been settled by the government. The government has released Rs 470 crore to settle the dues of farmers for the season 2022-23.
In the past, the government had been setting up committees every year to declare the SAP but never followed their direction in true sense. Instead the government has evolved a simple formula of giving Rs 2-5 more than what was given in Uttar Pradesh.
However, it was not yet known whether the government would also make any commitment about bonus for farmers as had been done in the past. “Our sugar mills are already facing losses. We cannot increase the SAP further which will create death-knell for the mills where farmers sell their produce to earn money,” said a top government official.
The resentment had been growing among farmers against non-declaration of SAP during the past 1-2 months. Farmers are demanding SAP around Rs 400-450. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has also called for declaring sugarcane price at Rs 425 per quintal. Ends