Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Friday announced the state advised price ( SAP) forsugarcane for the 2012-13 crushing season. At Rs 280 a quintal for the common variety, the new SAP is 16.67 per cent higher for the common variety compared to last year.

SAP for the early variety has been fixed at Rs 290 per quintal and Rs 275 for the substandard variety, a significant increase from last year’s Rs 250 and Rs 235, respectively.

According to the government, this would translate into total sugarcane payments of Rs 21,500 crore to farmers this crushing season, compared to Rs 18,200 crore during 2011-12.

The “massive increase” in SAP of Rs 40 a quintal for the common variety has come as a “big surprise”, said S L Gupta, secretary of UP Sugar Mills Association. The common variety accounts for 60-70 per cent of the total cane production in UP.

“As compared to SAP of Rs 165 per quintal in 2009-10, the current price of Rs 280 a quintal is an increase of 70 per cent in three years. The sugar prices have improved by just 15 per cent. The neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab have decided a SAP of around Rs 240 a quintal, whereas Tamil Nadu has announced SAP of only Rs 225 a quintal,” he said.

During the 2011-12 crushing season, the SAP announced on November 8 was hiked by Rs 40 to Rs 250 for the early variety, and by Rs 35 to Rs 240 for the common variety. The rejected variety rate was fixed at Rs 235 a quintal