Sugarcane payments worth ₹9,499 crore pending: Govt

livemint.com:

₹1.04 trillion to cane farmers so far in the current marketing year that ends on 30 September, but ₹9,499 crore worth of dues remain unpaid, according to the government. Of the total cane arrears, millers in Uttar Pradesh need to clear ₹6,315 crore worth of dues to sugarcane farmers. Cane arrears in Gujarat stand at ₹1,651 crore and in Maharashtra at ₹631 crore.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that payment of cane dues to farmers is a continuous process and the outstanding arrears have been on a downward trajectory over the last five years. To expedite payments of the pending dues to sugarcane farmers, the central government has implemented various policy measures as and when required. Among these measures is the government-mandated Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane, taking into account factors mentioned in Clause 3(1) of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.

Additionally, the minimum selling price of sugar has been set to prevent any fall in ex-mill prices, and to help clear accumulated cane arrears. This price was initially fixed at ₹29 per kg, and later revised to ₹31. The government has also extended financial assistance amounting to over ₹18,000 crore to sugar mills over the span of seven years, from the sugar season 2014-15 to 2020-21.

This financial aid has resulted in the timely clearance of farmers‘ dues. In a move to improve the financial conditions of sugar mills, surplus sugar has been diverted ethanol production, allowing them to clear dues owed to cane farmers at an early stage. The minister said that about 99.9% of cane dues up to sugar season 2020-21 have been cleared.