Uttar Pradesh sugar mills today urged the Akhilesh Yadav government to retain the state cane prices at the last year’s level.
The industry claimed any increase in cane prices by way of State Advised Price (SAP) for the 2012-13 crushing season would seriously impair their paying capacity.
Last year, the SAP stood at Rs 240/quintal and Rs 250/quintal for common and early maturing cane varieties respectively.
The industry reiterated its stand at the state sugarcane fixation committee meeting here chaired by the chief secretary. Farmers and sugarcane research institutes representations were also present.
The farmers maintained that the cane input cost had increased to about Rs 230/quintal for 2012-13 crushing season against Rs 187/quintal last year.
They said keeping in mind about 33% increase in cane price vis-à-vis input cost last year, the cane price should well be above Rs 300/quintal. Some farmers’ representatives are even demanding Rs 325/quintal, sources told Business Standard.
The fixation committee note with suggestions would now go before the state cabinet, which would take the final decision on SAP, which is likely to be announced around Diwali.
The sugar industry also demanded that the entry tax on sugar be exempted fully.
UP is India’s largest and second largest sugarcane and sugar producing state respectively and about 4 million farmers are associated with it. It has an annual economy of almost Rs 30,000 crore in UP encompassing both organised and unorganised sectors.
Last year, total farmers’ cane payments by mills were over Rs 18,200 crore making sugar sector the largest organised industrial segment in UP.
During 2011-12, state sugar production was about 6.96 million tonnes (MT), which is expected to touch 7.5 MT this year.
