In sticky situation, Akhilesh Yadav invites private millers for talks

Claiming to be posting losses due to higher cane price vis-à-vis realisation, millers had sought subsidy over any cane price above Rs 240/quintal

To break the gridlock with private sugar mills, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is likely to meet their representatives here on Sunday.

The stand-off on cane prices has kept crushing on hold. And, the farmers are eager to clear their fields to plant wheat.

“We would be meeting the minister,” UP Sugar Mills Association Secretary Deepak Guptara told Business Standard.

Claiming to be posting losses due to higher prices, the millers had sought a subsidy above Rs 240 a quintal. They revised it to Rs 225 due to falling sugar prices.

The farmers had demanded increasing the cane price to Rs 350 on costlier inputs.

The millers had hinted at not crushing if the government failed to provide relief. On November 19, the state was notified about their closure.

The state advised price (SAP) for 2013-14, announced on Wednesday, maintained status quo, at Rs 280 for the common variety, the bulk of the cane in UP.

Likewise, the prices for early and rejected/unsuitable varieties of cane are retained at Rs 290/quintal and Rs 275/quintal respectively.

Interestingly, this has irked both the farmers and industry, which has put the Akhilesh government in a tight spot.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) activists, mainly from western UP, today staged demonstration at the cane commissioner’s office over issues related to sugarcane.

 “We have demanded settlement of cane dues, increase in cane price and the start of crushing operations by sugar mills,” RLD chief general secretary (western UP region) Rahul Singh said.