U'khand pvt sugar mills start crushing

Private sugar mills in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand have started their crushing season with an agreement with sugarcane growers to pay Rs 215-220 as cane price this season.

Taking the lead, Luxmi Sugar Mill, Iqbalpur, in Haridwar crushed nearly 14,000-15,000 quintals of sugarcane on the first day of the season today after issuing nearly one lakh indents in the area. “We have set a target of crushing nearly 50 lakh quintals of sugarcane this season,” said an official of the Luxmi Sugar Mill.

Similarly, Uttam Sugar Mill, Liberhedi and Luxor Sugar Mill have also issued indents to procure sugarcane from farmers. All the sugar mills are expecting to crush sugarcane to their full capacity in Haridwar. “We are also expecting farmers from nearby areas of Uttar Pradesh to sell their produce to us,” said a mill official.

However, the agreement between private sugar mills and farmers has put considerable pressure on the state government, which wanted to declare the state advised price (SAP) around Rs 200. The government is expected to announce SAP in a day or two, officials said. The sugar mills in the government sector are yet to start their crushing season in the state.

Sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik, however, remained non-committal regarding the SAP as well as the start of the crushing season saying Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has to take the final decision. Kaushik reiterated that the SAP in Uttarakhand would be higher than the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh where private sugar mills have agreed to pay Rs 195. The sources said the government was trying to safeguard both the interests of farmers as well as sugar mills in this regard.

Last week, farmers in Haridwar had stopped trains and blocked traffic at various areas to lodge their strong protest against non-declaration of SAP while demanding better price for their produce. Ever since the announcement of FRP, the Uttarakhand government has been hesitant on the SAP, which in turn has delayed the crushing season also.