PUNE: An all-party delegation from Maharashtra, along with the representatives of agitating farmers organizations, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday about various demands of the sugar industry. 

 

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan held a meeting with Raju Shetty, leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana, at Karad in Sangli district on Monday. Karad is the home turf of Chavan and Shetty has made it the base of his agitation this year. 

 

Cane price agitation turned violent last year when two farmers lost lives and Shetty was put behind bars. Earlier, parleys between the state government and representatives of various factions of the Shetkari Sangathana failed to arrive at any mutually agreement over cane price. 

 

"The chief minister requested us to wait till the meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday. We have decided to continue with our agitations in the present mode till November 27. But we will intensify it after that if the cane price issue is not resolved by then," said Shetty. 

 

The sugar industry has blamed the fall in sugar prices and high cane price it has to pay to the farmers for the huge arrears of cane payment. To deal with the crisis, it has demanded an export subsidy, the creation of buffer stock of sugar, an increase in the import duty and interest- free loan. Shetty has expressed his support to the demands of the industry from the government. 

At the same time, he has maintained that his demand of 3,000/tonne price for cane is not linked to what the industry gets from the government. 

 

"We want higher price for cane, irrespective of what the industry gets from the government," said Shetty, while speaking to ET. By November 25, 96 sugar mills in the state have crushed 40 lakh tonne cane producing 34 lakh quintal sugar. Last year, the state had produced 63 lakh quintal sugar during the corresponding period. 

Most of the sugar mills in Kolhapur and Sangli have not been able to begin operations due to the fear of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana activists.