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The UP Sugar industry has welcomed the government's decision to not change the State Advisory Price (SAP) for the current sugarcane crushing season 2020 -21.
The industry said climatic factors including rain, resulted in lower recovery of sugar from crushing of cane, which had increased the cost of production of sugar by at least Rs 150 per quintal compared to the last sugar season.
So, for the current 2020-21 marketing year, the SAP would remain at Rs 315 per quintal for the common variety, which accounts for more than half of the total sugarcane produce, while the prices for early variety and rejected varieties of cane would remain at Rs 325 and Rs 310 per quintal, respectively.
This is the third straight year when the state government has decided not to hike the price of cane. The SAP was last increased by Rs 10 per quintal in 2017, soon after the Yogi Adityanath government took charge.
Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh are already finding it tough to pay cane farmers their dues because of low sugar recovery this season, which has, in effect, pushed up the cost of production. So far in the current season, sugar recovery in the state is around 0.7% lower year-on-year. The drop in recovery rate has increased the cost of sugar production by approximately Rs 200 per quintal. Added to this is the fact that ex-mill prices of sugar in the local markets have also declined due to a huge carryover stock.