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The total sugarcane dues have mounted to almost Rs 13,000 crore, of which the total payable amount is Rs 10,915 crore, since mills get 14 days to clear dues without inviting interest obligation.
Against payables, the mills had paid nearly Rs 7,070 crore, which leaves net arrears of about Rs 3,845 crore. If mills fail to improve their payment percentage from 65 per cent, the arrears are bound to increase further owing to additional crushing.
Meanwhile, the sugar output has touched 4.20 million tonnes (MT) mark against the 8 MT target for UP this season. The mills had crushed over 47 MT of sugarcane, which pegs the recovery percentage at 8.89 per cent.
Last year, four additional mills were crushing during this time of the year compared to 121 this year. However, the recovery percentage and sugar production levels are higher compared to the same period during 2011-12.
On December 7, 2012, the Akhilesh Yadav government had announced the cane State Advised Price (SAP) for 2012-13, which was 17 per cent higher for the common variety compared to 2011-12.
SAP now stands at Rs 280/quintal for common variety vis-à-vis Rs 240/quintal last year, which forms the bulk of the sugarcane grown in UP. The prices for early and rejected/unsuitable varieties of cane have been hiked to Rs 290/quintal and Rs 275/quintal compared to Rs 250/quintal and Rs 235/quintal respectively.
The hike is projected to translate into sugarcane payments of Rs 21,500 crore this crushing season compared to Rs 18,200 crore during 2011-12.
UP Sugar Mills Association had urged the state government to raise customs duty on white and raw sugar from 10 per cent to 60 per cent and removing 10 per cent levy sugar obligation on millers.
