Cabinet increases floor price paid to sugarcane farmers

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday fixed the floor price for sugarcane for 2023-24 at ₹315 per quintal (100kg), up 3.28% from the previous year and the highest increase under the Modi government’s tenure, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said, briefing reporters.

- Zia Haq

In absolute terms, the cane floor price was hiked by ₹10. The announcement of the so-called fair and remunerative price (FRP) for cane is eagerly awaited by about 50 million cane growers in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, among others.

Cane farmers form a politically influential voting bloc in states such as Uttar Pradesh, which sends the highest number of lawmakers to Parliament. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a general election next year, aside from polls in five states later this year.

While minimum support prices are floor prices that are often not realised by farmers on crops other than paddy and wheat, FRP is an assured price that millers have to mandatorily pay cane-growers.

The FRP of ₹315 applies to cane with a basic recovery rate of 10.25%. The recovery rate refers to the amount of sugar that can be extracted from a given quantity of cane. The rate depends on varieties of cane, the technologies mills use and geographical regions.