Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann hikes sugarcane procurement price; decision to cost state Rs 200 crore extra per year
India Today
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has hiked the procurement price of sugarcane to Rs 380 per quintal to benefit farmers.
In a bid to provide the much-needed relief to the sugarcane farmers of Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday, October 3, said that the price of sugarcane would be hiked to Rs 380 per quintal from the existing Rs 360 per quintal.
Making the announcement in the state assembly, the Punjab Chief Minister said that the farmers will get an additional Rs 20 per quintal under the State Agreed Price (SAP) of sugarcane as compared to last year. He said that this will bring the price of sugarcane to Rs 380 per quintal from the existing price of Rs 360 per quintal.
The decision, however, is going to cost the state exchequer an additional Rs 200 crore annually.
Bhagwant Mann said that the farmers of the state want to adopt sugarcane for crop diversification, but they are unable to do so due to the lack of proper pricing and timely payment. At present, sugarcane is cultivated on just 1.25 lakh hectares of land in Punjab, while the total crushing capacity of sugar mills was around 2.5 lakh hectares.
Bhagwant Mann said that the cooperative sugar mills have already cleared the dues of the farmers but two private sugar mills are yet to do so. He said that the owners of these mills have fled the country and that the state government has initiated the process to confiscate their assets to pay the dues of the farmers.
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