Despite the sugar mills facing a loss of Rs 230 crore, the Uttarakhand government on Tuesday announced its state advised price ( SAP) for sugarcane at Rs 285-295 a quintal for the year 2012-13, which is Rs 5 more than what farmers will get in neigbouring Uttar Pradesh.
This time, the government has hiked the SAP by 15 per cent, as compared to the previous year when it was Rs 250-255. “The sugarcane price of Rs 285-295 is the highest among many states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. This might be the highest in India also,” said sate sugarcane secretary S S Rawat.
For the normal and early varieties, the price has been fixed at Rs 285 and Rs 295, respectively, Negi said. The availability of the rejected variety is negligible in Uttarakhand.
The state government, however, did not make any commitment about bonus and rejected the Opposition demand for an increase of Rs 5 in the over the just-announced SAP. “Our sugar mills are already facing a loss of Rs 230 crore. We cannot increase the SAP further, which will create death-knell for the mills where farmers sell their produce to earn money,” said Rawat.
Prior to on Tuesday’s announcement, all the sugar mills in the state had been anxiously waiting for the SAP since they had already started their crushing season.
Experts said the announcement of SAP at Rs 285-295 was on expected lines as Uttarakhand’s price is always more than that of Uttar Pradesh’s.
Resentment had been growing among farmers against the non-declaration of SAP for the past one month. The state announced SAP comes at the backdrop of the farmers demanding the value be fixed at Rs 300-350.
This time, the government has hiked the SAP by 15 per cent, as compared to the previous year when it was Rs 250-255. “The sugarcane price of Rs 285-295 is the highest among many states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. This might be the highest in India also,” said sate sugarcane secretary S S Rawat.
For the normal and early varieties, the price has been fixed at Rs 285 and Rs 295, respectively, Negi said. The availability of the rejected variety is negligible in Uttarakhand.
The state government, however, did not make any commitment about bonus and rejected the Opposition demand for an increase of Rs 5 in the over the just-announced SAP. “Our sugar mills are already facing a loss of Rs 230 crore. We cannot increase the SAP further, which will create death-knell for the mills where farmers sell their produce to earn money,” said Rawat.
Prior to on Tuesday’s announcement, all the sugar mills in the state had been anxiously waiting for the SAP since they had already started their crushing season.
Experts said the announcement of SAP at Rs 285-295 was on expected lines as Uttarakhand’s price is always more than that of Uttar Pradesh’s.
Resentment had been growing among farmers against the non-declaration of SAP for the past one month. The state announced SAP comes at the backdrop of the farmers demanding the value be fixed at Rs 300-350.
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