 "sugarcane farmers")
Sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh (UP) have been paid nearly Rs 30,000 crore in the current crushing season 2023-24, which is slowly winding down.
According to government data, the payment, done by the sugar mills, represent more than 82 per cent of the total cane supply payables for the current season.
Besides, the UP ethanol production which stood at nearly 421 million litres in 2016-17, rose to 1.54 billion litres in 2022-23. By March 2023-24, the production shot past the 1.75 billion-litre mark. Ethanol, which is used in petrol blending, is an important byproduct of sugar.
The 121 operating mills in UP, with a combined cane crushing capacity of 0.84 million tonnes (mt) crushed per day (TCD), have so far crushed 98 mt of the cash crop, producing 10.33 mt of sugar.
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For the previous crushing season 2022-23, except for a private sugar mill unit defaulting on the farmers’ payment of Rs 213 crore, the remaining chunk of Rs 37,838 crore was fully paid. Last year, UP logged a sugar production of 10.5 mt.
“The sugarcane payments facilitated during the Yogi Adityanath government since March 2017 is to the tune of Rs 2.5 trillion and counting. Interestingly, this is roughly Rs 36,600 crore more than the consolidated cane payments made in the preceding 22 years, that is from 1995 to March 2017,” a government spokesperson said.
Of the 121 sugar mills in UP, private companies account for the maximum number, nearly 93 units, followed by 28 mills of the cooperatives as well as the Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation (UPSSC).
Nearly 5 million households are engaged in sugarcane farming in UP, which generates an estimated annual economy of Rs 50,000 crore.
In January 2024, the state government hiked the cane price by Rs 20 per quintal (100 kilograms) for various cane varieties.
In the 2022-23 sugarcane crushing season, cane area and production in the state stood at 2.85 million hectares and 235 mt respectively.
Meanwhile, mills in UP paid the cane farmers Rs 52,131 crore during 2007-12, Rs 95,215 crore during 2012-17, Rs 1.66 trillion during 2017-22, and Rs 83,713 crore during 2022- April 24.
Since March 2017, three new mills have been established in UP. Also, an additional 110,600 TCD capacity was generated after the reopening of 6 mills and capacity expansion of 38 units.
Moreover, 285 new ‘khandsari’ (unrefined/unprocessed sugar) units were set up, which augmented the cane crushing capacity to 73,700 TCD. As a result, an additional crushing capacity of 184,300 TCD was generated in both sugar mills and khandsari segments.
Besides, about 3,200 women self-help groups are active in the UP sugarcane sector. These groups produced 480 million sugarcane seedlings for plantation.
