Cane growers’ new worry: Mills to pay on sale of sugar
:CHANDIGARH:SUGARCANE growers in Punjab have a new worry – private mills will pay them the state advised price (SAP) after selling sugar which they would produce in the current crushing season.
Sale of sugar as per the Centre’s quota norms is spread out over the next one year, so farmers are fearing long delay in payments. Crushing of sugarcane by seven private mills in the state, which procure 70% of the total cane produced in the state, was delayed this time. The crushing began just a fortnight ago, after the state government intervened to sort out the problem.
“Crushing has been delayed by six weeks, and there is no assurance to the cane growers as to when would they get payments. Moreover, the previous year’s payments are pending,” says Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal). state initially refused to start crushing operations, taking the plea that the business has turned unviable as the SAP fixed by the Punjab government is ₹310 per quintal, which is ₹35 more than the Centre’s fair remunerative price (FRP) of ₹275.
On December 5, the state government agreed to pay ₹25 a quintal to farmers directly.
“We can pay farmers only after selling sugar, the sale of which is controlled by the government. We have no other way of making payments.” said Jarnail Singh Wahid, president of the private sugar mills association. Rana Inder Singh, managing director of a private mill, said mills are no longer profit-making entities and they could pay for the raw material (cane) only after the sale of the finished product (sugar).
Wahid said the sale of sugar is controlled by the Essential Commodities Act, and the excise and taxation department monitors the sale of sugar.
‘WON’T BE ABLE TO SELL SUGAR BEFORE 2020’
“There is no formula for control of sale, which is based on market dynamics. By the existing sale norms, we would be able to sell sugar stocks not before the start of 2020,” he said. Notably, sugar mills in the state owe growers a total of ₹390 crore of the previous season, of which ₹200 crore is due to the private mills. Of the 16 sugar mills in the state, nine are in the cooperative sector.
“We have asked the mills to clear the previous year’s payments by January 2019 and make timely payments for the current season,” said additional chief secretary Viswajeet Khanna, who heads the cooperation and agriculture departments.