Badal wants states to fix sugarcane price instead of Centre

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sharad Pawar to leave the issue of fixation of sugarcane price to the mills and states in the larger interest of sugar production and economic viability of sugar mills. In a letter to Mr Pawar, the Chief Minister has asked the Ministry to immediately revise its amended order of Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 issued on October 22 to the effect that instead of minimum price of sugarcane, a Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) shall be fixed by the Centre. The amended order has further provided that if any authority or state government fixes any price above the FRP fixed by the Central Government, such authority or state government shall pay the amount which it fixes above the FRP fixed by the Centre to the sugarcane growers or to the sugarcane growers cooperative society as the case may be. The Chief Minister informed Mr Pawar that Punjab had been fixing the State Agreed Price (SAP) for purchase of sugarcane under Punjab Sugarcane (Regulation of Purchase and Supply) Act, 1953 and rules made there under provide that 'an occupier or agent or purchasing agent or any person employed by him shall not purchase cane for a factory, at a price below the minimum price fixed by the Sugarcane Control Board and called as State Agreed Price'. The SAP in Punjab has normally been higher than the minimum price fixed by the Central Government. The Chief Minister emphasised the need to maintain a price parity to ensure similar returns to the farmers growing sugarcane and those following Rice-Wheat Cropping System (RWCS). In view of the high productivity of RWCS and thereby better gross returns, a higher SAP had to be fixed to ensure no shift of area to RWCS and availability of sugarcane to the mills. The Chief Minister also apprised Mr Pawar that the present amendment by the Centre would seriously affect the area under sugarcane and thereby the economic viability of sugar mills, as the state would not be able to pay the difference between SAP and FRP.

-- (UNI) -- 09DR65.xml

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