Indian sugar mills association

Punjab govt. to pay sugarcane farmers

Date:	06 Dec 2018

Source:	The Hindu

Reporter:	Special Correspondent

News ID:	35779

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Amid protests by the sugarcane farmers in parts of the State, the Punjab government on Wednesday decided to pay ₹25 per quintal directly to the sugarcane farmers and directed the private sugar mills to immediately start crushing operations.

The government also announced an immediate release of ₹65 crore towards the interest on loans taken by private sugar mill owners to clear pending dues of farmers.

Protests by farmers

Several farmers, demanding an immediate start of crushing of sugarcane and payments of outstanding dues, had been staging protests against the ruling Congress government in the Doaba and Majha regions of the State during the past few days.

The sugarcane crushing season has been delayed by over a fortnight.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh held a meeting here with owners of the private sugar mills in which the decisions were taken, said an official statement.

“State government would pay ₹25 per quintal on sugarcane to the farmers directly out of the State Assured Price (SAP) of ₹310 per quintal, while the remaining ₹285 per quintal would be paid to them by the private sugar mills,” said the statement.

“In line with the commitment made by the State government in 2015 to bear the interest on the loan of ₹200 crore taken by the private sugar mills to clear the payment of farmers for the 2015-16 crushing season, it has also been announced that the government would immediately release the accumulated interest, amounting to nearly ₹65 crore, directly to the farmers to partly clear dues of ₹192 crore pending with the private mill owners,” added the statement.

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