Uttar Pradesh sugar cane farmers on Friday demanded a price of Rs 350 per quintal of cane for the 2013-14 crushing season, even as private mills expressed inability to pay beyond Rs 240 a quintal. The farmers also want settlement of last year’s cane arrears of Rs 2,400 crore by private mills.

Participating in a meeting to fix cane prices, chaired by the state cane commissioner, farmers’ representatives firmly put forth their demand for Rs 350 a quintal due to a substantial rise in input costs.

“The state sugar cane research institute at Shahjahanpur has computed the sugar cane input cost at Rs 251 per quintal. In previous years, the state government has been providing at least 20 per cent margin over that in the state advised price of cane,” said a senior department official.

The mills have demanded implementation of the Rangarajan Committee's recommendations, which include linking the cane price to sugar prices.

The price-fixing committee will forward its report to a state committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani, which would vet the report on November 12 and make recommendations to the cabinet for approval of the cane price. Last year, the state cane price was declared on December 7.

Uttar Pradesh accounts for 30 per cent of India’s annual sugar output and the sector supports a little over four million farmers’ households.

While private mills seem in no mood to start crushing until the state announces the cane price, the government has released the crushing schedule for cooperative mills, starting November 15. “We will stick to the schedule fixed by the state,” said UP Cooperative Sugar Factories ederation Ltd Managing Director B K Yadav.