Sugarcane fair price hiked to Rs 355 a quintal

The cabinet approved a 4.41% increase in the price at which sugar mills will have to buy sugarcane from farmers for the season starting in October, raising it to ₹355 per quintal from ₹340 earlier. The hike in the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane will benefit 50 million sugarcane farmers, as well as 500,000 workers employed in sugar mills and related ancillary activities, the government said.

The new FRP is applicable for a basic recovery rate of 10.25%, providing a premium of ₹3.46 per quintal for each 0.1% increase in recovery over and above the 10.25% and reduction in FRP by ₹3.46 per quintal for every 0.1% decrease in recovery.

However, there will not be any deduction in cases where recovery is below 9.5%. Such farmers will get ₹329.05/qtl for sugarcane in the ensuing sugar season 2025-26, the statement said.

Recovery rate is the amount of sugar that sugarcane fetches. The higher the amount of sugar extracted from sugarcane, the higher is the price it fetches in the market.

Meanwhile, the sugar mills have been urging the government to raise the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar, citing increased operational and procurement costs.Sugar production till April 15 in the current sugar season (2024-25) has reached 25.497 million tonnes, according to Indian Sugar Bio-Energy & Manufacturers Association (ISMA).