Sugar mills in Maharashtra have paid ₹5,065.45 crore Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to sugarcane farmers this season. 

As per the Sugar Commissioner office data, 175 sugar mills have started crushing season this year as of December 15, 2021, and have crushed 232.98 lakh tonnes (lt) sugarcane. 

The total gross payable FRP is ₹7,588.44 crore out of which net FRP paid is ₹5,065.45 crore. 

As per the data, 66 factories have paid 100 per cent FRP and 109 factories have no FRP dues this season. Eighteen factories have paid 80-99 per cent FRP. The FRP arrears including previous all seasons is ₹610. 53 crore.

FRP had become a bone of contention before the crushing season started as farmers’ organisations demanded that mills must not delay FRP payment.

Meanwhile, uncertainty prevails over the continuation of crushing season as the number of Covid-19 cases is rising fast in the State. Thousands of sugarcane cutters migrate from Marathwada to the sugar belt for sugarcane cutting. 

The sugarcane cutters continue to work in the region even as the number of Covid-19 cases in the State has trebled.