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Punjab hikes cane price by ₹10 per quintal
The hike in SAP was announced by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who stated that the Punjab government was committed to the well-being of the sugarcane cultivators in the state.
The Punjab government on Monday announced a hike of ₹10 in the state-agreed price (SAP) of sugarcane, increasing the rate to ₹401 per quintal for the 2024-25 crushing season.
The hike in SAP was announced by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who stated that the Punjab government was committed to the well-being of the sugarcane cultivators in the state.
The CM said this is the highest rate of sugarcane across the country. “We have always provided high rates to the sugarcane cultivators,” he said in a statement. As per the notification, the state government will give ₹401 per quintal to the farmers for the early varieties of sugarcane and ₹391 for mid and late varieties.
The State Sugarcane Control Board had announced the commencement of sugarcane crushing on November 25, but the declaration of SAP was delayed due to the model code of conduct for the byelections to four assembly constituencies in the state. A farmers’ organisation, the Doaba Kisan Committee Punjab, had approached the Election Commission regarding the impact of delay in SAP on the sugarcane crushing exercise in the state. Sugarcane has been cultivated on 1 lakh hectares this year, which is up from around 95,000 hectares last year. There are nine cooperative and six private mills in Punjab, which are expected to crush around 700 lakh quintals of sugarcane, according to official data.
