The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday fixed the minimum sugar cane price at Rs. 280 a quintal for the common variety for 2013-14-- the same as last year's-- over a month after the scheduled start of the crushing season.
The support price for the early maturing variety is Rs. 290 per quintal, while the inferior one will get Rs. 275 per quintal, according to a government spokesperson.
With the fixing of minimum prices, nearly Rs. 22,500 crore is estimated to be paid to farmers in 2013-14, he added.
The increase in production cost, sugar conversions, hike in cane production, relative decrease in prevailing market prices of sugar as compared to the last crushing season and all other related aspects have been taken into consideration while determining the support price, the spokesperson said.
Prices have been fixed keeping in mind that the cane rates should be beneficial to farmers while maintaining the continuity of the sugar industry, he said.
Transportation expenses deducted for 2013-2014 is Rs. 8.75 per quintal. Keeping in mind the problems faced by mills in making payment to growers, mills have been exempted from Rs. 2 per quintal purchase tax, he added.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have lashed out at the state government saying that the announced support price is inadequate and not in keeping with the cost incurred by farmers.
"The government has betrayed the farmers and we demand that the price which is beneficial to the growers be declared," RLD National Secretary Anil Dubey said.
Mr Dubey said that with this price, farmers would not be able to recover the cost and this only goes on to prove the ill- intentions of the government.
The RLD which is scheduled to "gherao" the cane commissioner office on Thursday as per its already announced programme would demand immediate starting of crushing by the mills and payment of all the arrears alongwith the interest, Mr Dubey added.
BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said "when Haryana can announce cane price as high as Rs. 300 per quintal why not Uttar Pradesh?"
"The Samajwadi Party had promised to set up a commission for setting the price of farmers' produce in its manifesto but now they have gone back on it," Mr Pathak said.
Congress spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi said that this is the first government which has first issued a programme for the cane crushing season and then announced the price.
The private mill owners of some 65 mills have already said that they will make a payment at the rate of Rs. 220-225 come what may and the government has failed to control this arbitrary attitude, Mr Tripathi said, adding that cane dues worth Rs. 2,350 crore are still pending.
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