Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene urgently in the agitation by sugarcane farmers in North Karnataka, warning that the delayed crushing season is leaving mature cane in fields and disrupting road movement in several locations.
In a letter to Modi, Shivakumar said farmers were facing losses as standing sugarcane loses weight and sugar content when harvesting and crushing are delayed. Farmers have been protesting at various locations and taking out padayatras towards Hubballi to gherao the residence of Union Minister for Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, according to the letter.
Road blockades have been reported at several places, causing hardship to the general public and raising public-order concerns. The High Court has issued directions restraining the protest at the Union minister’s residence. Shivakumar said he had visited Kittur in Belagavi district on October 17 and appealed to the farmers to withdraw their padayatra.
The farmers told him that their principal demands fell within the jurisdiction of the Union government and that they would not call off the agitation without an assurance from the Centre, the Chief Minister said in the letter. Shivakumar described the situation as grave and asked the Prime Minister to announce decisions on the demands while a committee constituted by the Centre examines issues concerning sugarcane farmers and the sugar sector.
The committee, chaired by former NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, was constituted on October 14. Shivakumar assured the Centre of Karnataka’s cooperation but said urgent action was required because the delay was affecting the start of the crushing season.
The Chief Minister said Karnataka had taken measures within its jurisdiction, including installing digital load cells at all 81 operational sugar mills, monitoring sugar recovery and cane weight, and directing mills to obtain accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories for their recovery-testing laboratories.
According to Shivakumar, average sugar recovery increased from 9.91 per cent in 2022-23 to 11.09 per cent in 2025-26 after these measures. The state also ensured an additional payment of Rs 100 per tonne above the price agreed upon by mills during 2025-26, with the government bearing Rs 50 per tonne. About Rs 290 crore had been paid directly to farmers, he said.
However, Shivakumar said the farmers’ core demands required decisions by the Union government. He sought an increase in the minimum selling price of sugar, which has remained at Rs 31 per kg since February 2019, while the Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane rose from Rs 2,750 to Rs 3,650 per tonne. He also proposed separate minimum selling prices for domestic and commercial sugar.
The Chief Minister asked the Centre to reconsider the exclusion of ethanol produced from sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses from the procurement tender issued by oil marketing companies on October 16 for the 2026-27 ethanol supply year. He said Karnataka’s annual cane-based ethanol production capacity was 225 crore litres and that the exclusion could affect sugar-mill revenues and timely payments to farmers.
He also sought an increase in ethanol prices, saying rates for ethanol made from sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses had not changed since 2022-23, and called for the base recovery rate used to calculate the FRP to be reduced from 10.25 per cent to 9.50 per cent.
Shivakumar said a clear and timely decision by the Centre would help the state persuade farmers to withdraw the agitation and allow the crushing season to begin. The next immediate developments are the Centre’s response to the demands and the committee’s examination of the sugar sector issues.
