Uttarakhand sets cane price at Rs 285/quintal

Union Water Resources Minister on Tuesday asked the govt to announce cane price, start crushing season before Dec 5

Sugar cane politics in Uttarakhand has taken an interesting turn, with the state government fixing cane price at Rs 285 a quintal under pressure from Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat.

Rawat, a known detractor of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, on Tuesday asked the government to announce the cane price and start the crushing season before Thursday. Rawat also said had he not been a minister, he would have staged a sit-in along with farmers, who are agitated in the state over the delay in starting the crushing season. Farmers in the state had also been burning sugar cane and holding protest demonstrations, demanding the state advised price (SAP) be fixed at Rs 300-350.

The government had earlier said it would start the crushing season by November 26-30, but private mills in Haridwar district, the parliamentary constituency of Rawat, did not heed the advice.

After Rawat’s ultimatum, the government went into a huddle and announced the cane price of Rs 285 for 2013-14, which is Rs 5 more than that of Uttar Pradesh. The government also said it has instructed all the sugar mills in the state to start crushing before December 5.

Significantly, the declaration of the cane price at Rs 285 is on expected lines. During the past few years, the government had been setting up committees to declare the SAP but never followed the directions of these committees in the true sense. Instead, the government has evolved a simple formula of giving Rs 2-5 more than the cane price of Uttar Pradesh’s.

Interestingly, ever since Bahuguna was nominated as the chief minister last year, the Rawat camp had been trying hard to oust him. The offensive under the garb of sugar cane price has come amid fresh speculation that a change of guard in the state is on the cards. The recent resignation of state Congress President Yashpal Arya is also being seen as a part of a move by the Bahuguna camp to exert pressure on the party high command to counter the Rawat group.