A Central government expert committee reviewing sugarcane and sugar prices held a meeting in Bengaluru on Thursday after a month-long agitation by sugarcane growers in Karnataka, with farmer representatives seeking an increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to at least ₹4,500 per tonne.
The committee is headed by Ramesh Chand, a NITI Aayog member, and held discussions with farmer representatives, sugar mill officials, growers and other experts associated with the industry. It also collected information and received representations from stakeholders, according to a report by Prajavani.
The committee is expected to submit a report to the Central government. The government may take a decision on sugarcane and sugar prices based on the committee’s recommendations, although no timeline for the report or final decision was provided in the report.
Kuruburu Shantakumar, president of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers’ Association, presented the farmers’ demands before the committee. The association said the cost of sugarcane cultivation had risen substantially because of higher expenses for seed, fertiliser, farm labour, irrigation, electricity, diesel, harvesting and transport.
One of the central demands is that the FRP for sugarcane with a 10.25 per cent sugar recovery rate should be increased to ₹4,500 per tonne. The farmers’ representatives cited a report by Karnataka’s Sugarcane Development Commissioner to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, which estimated the cost of producing one tonne of sugarcane in the previous year at ₹4,450.
The farmers have also sought a separate pricing system for commercial sugar consumption. They said around 75 per cent of sugar produced in the country is used commercially and 25 per cent for household consumption. Under their proposal, confectionery manufacturers, soft-drink companies, food-processing industries and other commercial users would pay a higher price, while the existing general price would continue for household consumers. The additional revenue, they said, could support a higher FRP for growers.
Another demand concerns revenue from sugarcane by-products, including molasses, bagasse, ethanol and electricity. The farmers’ representatives have sought mandatory profit-sharing with growers from these products. They have also demanded that sugarcane prices be calculated using the sugar recovery from each farmer’s field rather than an average recovery rate calculated across all farmers supplying a mill.
The association has alleged that some mills deduct 8 to 10 per cent of the cane weight as wastage during machine harvesting without scientific testing or legally defined standards. It has sought action against mills making such deductions and demanded that the FRP be fixed as a field-level price, with harvesting and transport costs paid by sugar factories instead of being deducted from farmers’ payments.
The farmers further sought a change in the practice of using the previous year’s sugar recovery to determine the current year’s payment. They said weather, rainfall, irrigation, cane quality and sugar recovery vary each year, and that payment should be based on the recovery of the cane supplied during the relevant season.
Under the Sugarcane (Control) Order framework, mills are required to pay farmers within 14 days of cane supply. The association has sought strict action, including interest on delayed payments and possible licence suspension for mills that repeatedly violate payment rules. It has also called for stronger powers for deputy commissioners to recover outstanding farmer payments.
Other demands included higher compensation for sugarcane damaged by accidental fires, removal of a reported 25 per cent deduction from the FRP for burnt cane, and deregulation of sugar under the Essential Commodities Act. The committee’s report and the Central government’s subsequent decision will determine whether any of these demands lead to changes in sugarcane pricing or sector regulation.
