23 sugar mills cough up ₹125 crore in FRP ahead of crushing season

PUNE: With the sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra (2021-22) slated to begin from October 15, sugar mills have expedited payouts of pending fair and remunerative price (FRP) to farmers as crushing licenses will not be issued to the mills that have not paid full FRP to farmers

PUNE: With the sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra (2021-22) slated to begin from October 15, sugar mills have expedited payouts of pending fair and remunerative price (FRP) to farmers as crushing licenses will not be issued to the mills that have not paid full FRP to farmers. Presently, 154 mills have paid 100% FRP to farmers. Nearly 190 sugar factories, both cooperative and private, are expected to participate in the upcoming season.

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Shekhar Gaikwad, sugar commissioner, said, “In just a week, FRP worth ₹125 crore has been paid by 23 sugar mills to farmers. Payment of FRP worth ₹100 crore is still pending but I am sure that it will be completed in the next 10 days. Now, 99.09% FRP has been paid in Maharashtra. Sugarcane crushing licenses will not be issued to sugar mills without full payment of FRP.”

Earlier, the sugar commissionerate had colour-coded sugar mills based on their payment history. The step was taken to provide a ready guide for sugarcane farmers to decide where to sell their sugarcane. “This list has reached more than 30 lakh farmers in the state. There are four mills which have paid below 60% FRP; eight which have paid 60 to 80% FRP; and 24 mills which have paid 81 to 99% FRP.”

Till September 30, the sugar mills in Maharashtra have paid ₹31,243 crore in FRP to sugarcane farmers with payment of ₹100 crore of FRP still pending.