U'khand announces cane price at Rs 210-Rs 215

After a long wait, Uttarakhand today announced its state advised price (SAP) for sugarcane at Rs 210- Rs 215, which is considered to be the highest in the country.

For the normal and early varieties, the price has been fixed at Rs 210 and Rs 215, respectively, which is Rs 5 more than that of Uttar Pradesh, state Sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik said here. The availability of the rejected variety is negligible in Uttarakhand.

Unlike previous year, Kaushik this time did not make any commitment about bonus but asserted that the mills were independent to take a decision on this issue. Last year, Kaushik had promised a hefty bonus for farmers due to which the prices of sugarcane shot up to Rs 275.

With the announcement of the SAP, eight of the 10 sugar mills in the state have started their crushing season also. The remaining two sugar mills would also start functioning in a day or two, the minister said.

The announcement of the SAP, which was delayed by more than a month, came after the committee set up on the SAP gave its report on November 22.

Experts said the announcement of SAP at Rs 210- Rs 215 was on the expected lines since private sugar mills are ready to pay this price to the farmers. Now, it would be interesting to watch how much bonus would be declared by government sugar mills in the state.

The resentment had been growing among farmers against non-declaration of SAP during the past one month. Farmers were demanding SAP around Rs 250.