4 mt sugar buffer gets nod; floor price stays same amid growing arrears

As in 2018-19, the FRP will attract a premium of Rs 2.75 a quintal for every 0.1 per cent increase in recovery over 10 per cent (which is the amount of sugar derived from cane)

With sugarcane payment arrears to growers at a little over Rs 15,000 crore, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the creation of a buffer stock of four million tonnes (mt). 

It also kept its Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP, the floor price it sets; states may set it higher) of cane unchanged for the 2019-20 season at Rs 275 a quintal, for 10 per cent recovery. The sugar year officially begins on October 1. 

As in 2018-19, the FRP will attract a premium of Rs 2.75 a quintal for every 0.1 per cent increase in recovery over 10 per cent (which