The Government on Wednesday increased sugarcane FRP for 2024-25 sugar season to Rs. 340/- per quintal from the current FRP of Rs. 315/- per quintal.
The Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) welcomed the move and said that the decision to hike cane FRP for next season will help the 5 crore sugarcane farmers and their family members earn better profits.
M Prabhakar Rao, President ISMA
The President of the Association Mr. Mandava Prabhakar Rao said that the increase will help the farmers to meet the increasing expenditure for growing sugarcane and will help sugarcane retain its competitiveness V/s other crops like Rice, Maize etc. This will lead to an additional Rs. 10,000 crore plus payment to the cane farmers through the sugar industry.
“The policy reforms for balancing the sugar production and to maintain the sugar prices through demand-supply balancing has enabled the industry to pay the FRP to the 5 crore plus cane farmer families in a timely manner in the past few years”, he said.
The President said that the Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) is hailed as one of the best in the world in terms of environmental sustainability and its economic impact to the rural India. ISMA requests for the continuation of such proactive policy support through the enhancement of MSP (Minimum Selling Price) of sugar.
“CACP may also recommend the MSP of sugar which as per industry estimates will be at about Rs. 3,900/- per quintal based on the FRP of Rs. 340/- per quintal of sugarcane. Similarly, the prices of ethanol shall also be revised based on the higher FRP and increased costs to make it viable for the sugar industry”, Rao said.
In the Press Release, the Association said that to avoid sudden policy shifts, it is recommending to the Government to collect 4-5 million tons of sugar every year from the industry based on the MSP recommended by CACP so that the industry can continue to support the EBP without getting impacted by any sudden policy changes.
For the benefit of the consumers and to stabilise retail sugar prices, the Government can always intervene by releasing the buffer stock collected every year like in case of pulses (Dal), rice and other essential commodities. “The buffer stock policy can remove the need for any sudden interventions on ethanol production like in the current year which has led to enormous difficulties for the industry. It is noteworthy to mention here that sugarcane is the only crop where the Government guaranteed FRP is paid by the industry to 100% of the farmers with an end to end market linkage for which no cost is incurred by the Govt. On the other hand, as mentioned in the press release of the Government the sugar price remains the cheapest in India to the consumer”, Rao said.
“This kind of favorable situation can continue in the future as well with proactive policy interventions by the Government so that the industry can deliver more than Rs. 1,10,000 Cr cane payments to the farmers on time without getting into any stress like in the past. We are optimistic that the necessary policy interventions as being prayed by ISMA will be taken immediately for the current season which can lead to timely payment to the cane farmers this season” he concluded.
