While mill owners are agitating over the increased state administered prices (SAPs) of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, mills and cooperatives in major non-SAP states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh can heave a sigh of relief, with the relatively lower cane purchase prices announced by these governments.
While the government of Andhra Pradesh has announced a price of Rs 2,000 per tonne for the mills and co-operatives to pay the farmers for cane purchase in 2011-12, Karnataka has decided a price of Rs 1,800 per tonne and Maharastra has come up with a three-tier pricing mecahnism, ranging from Rs 1,800-2,050 per tonne .
Besides, Andhra Pradesh has exempted mill owners from paying purchase tax of Rs 60 per tonne and has granted Rs 50 crore as aid for the sugar co-operatives.
This is as against a controversial SAP of Rs 2,400 per tonne in Uttar Pradesh and a fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 1,450 per tonne announced by the central government.
The sugar commissioner of Maharastra has announced a price of Rs 2,050 per tonne in the districts of Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli, while the major sugar-producing districts of Pune, Solapur and Ahmednagar will pay Rs 1,850 per tonne and rest Rs 1,800 per tonne.
Last year, the government had announced Rs 1,750 per tonne in Pune and Rs 1800 per tonne for the rest of Maharastra. Incidentally, sugar factories had earlier announced a price of Rs 2,000 per tonne for Satara, Sangli and Kohlapur for the current season.
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Andhra Pradesh has nine working sugar co-operatives out of 11. Officials explained that the aid of Rs 50 crore will help compensate the co-operatives to pay the farmers. "Purchase tax has been exempted, so the mills and co-operatives can pass the benefit to the farmers", an official said.
In Maharastra, where the recovery rate is 11 per cent, Pune, Solapur and Ahmednagar account for nearly half of all production. Kohlapur, Satara and Sangli, paying the higher price of Rs 2,050, contribute another 35 per cent .The estimated production in the state this year is 82.5 million tonnes.
Uttarakhand has declared an SAP of Rs 2,500-2,550 per tonne, while that for Haryana is up Rs 11 per tonne. The SAP for Haryana is Rs 2,210-2,310 per tonne. Besides, Uttarakhand has also released Rs 15 crore to pay the dues of farmers.