Crushing starts today in Bihar

Earlier, Bihar Sugar Mills Association had asked for a cash subsidy of Rs 30 per quintal for cane farmers

Bowing to pressure from the state government, sugar mills owners in Bihar have decided to keep cane prices unchanged. After the resolution, mills have decided to start crushing on Thursday.

Earlier, the Bihar Sugar Mills Association had asked for a cash subsidy of Rs 30 a quintal for farmers, underlining the huge losses mills incurred last year due to the fall in sugar prices and the recovery rate.

“However, after the assurances on tax rebate and the request of Cane Development Minister Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha, we kept the cane prices unchanged. Sugar mills in the state will pay Rs 245 a quintal for the lower-price variety. Meanwhile, farmers will be paid Rs 255 a quintal for the normal and Rs 265 a quintal for the premium varieties,” said Bihar Sugar Mills Association secretary Naresh Bhatt.

The rates were fixed after a series of meetings between state government representatives and association members. "They wanted a lower price this year, claiming huge losses due to fall in sugar prices. We accept that they indeed had to face some difficult times. However, we asked them to maintain the price and assured them that their demands will be looked after," said Kushwaha. He also added that the state government has decided to relax some sugar-related taxes, which would help them in reducing their cost of production. The state government also decided to hold a detailed discussion on the association's demand of cash subsidy during the Udyami Panchayat, which will be held on December 30.

The prices are, however, lower than that of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, at Rs 280 a quintal for the normal varieties. At present, Bihar has a dozen operational sugar mills, with a total crushing capacity of 60,000 tonnes a day (TCD) and a total cane production of 6-7 crore tonnes. These mills produced almost 5 lakh tonnes of sugar last year and expect a 20 per cent increase in the current crushing season.

Earlier, the Bihar Sugar Mills Association had claimed that their members incurred huge losses last year, due to the fall in sugar prices and the recovery rate and asked  for prices to be reduced to Rs 210-225 a quintal. They also asked for a cash subsidy of Rs 30 a quintal from the state government, which the mill owners asked the state government to directly pay to the farmers.