Uttarakhand fixes cane SAP at Rs 143

The Uttarakhand government today announced the State Advised Price (SAP) for ordinary sugarcane at Rs 143 per quintal and Rs 148 for the early variety for the year 2008-09.

Announcing this in the state Assembly, Sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik said the price of sugarcane in the hill state was Rs 3 more than that in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, which had already declared its SAP.

Last year, the SAP was Rs 127 for ordinary produce and Rs 132 for the early variety in the hill state.

Later talking to reporters, Kaushik criticised the Opposition for creating a ruckus over the SAP, saying the government has already cleared all the dues of farmers for the year 2006-07 and paid Rs 42 crore out of the total Rs 56 crore package for the year 2007-08.

Kaushik also said the government has exerted tremendous pressure on private mills for making payments to farmers.

The sugarcane production, which touched 78.5 million quintals last year, is estimated at 63 million quintals during 2008-09, official statistics said. Similarly, the sugarcane area in the state has also been reduced by 20 per cent, which is now being estimated at 107,000 hectares.

Significantly, today’s announcement came as farmers in various parts of the state particularly in Haridwar district were up in arms asking the government to declare the SAP and settle their dues. The farmers are also angry that some private mills have not yet settled their long-standing dues.

According to an estimate of the office of the sugarcane commissioner, a total of Rs 26 crore are still due on private mills.