The Karnataka Government has decided to amend certain regulations to provide more teeth to the Karnataka Sugarcane Control Board.

An amendment to the Karnataka Sugarcane (Regulation of Purchase and Supply) Act was moved in the Assembly on Monday with H S Mahadev Prasad, State Minister for Co-operation and Sugar, introducing the Karnataka Sugarcane (Regulation of Purchase and Supply) (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

Transparency

The proposed Bill has been brought to help the government to implement the purchase and supply of sugarcane in a more transparent manner. It also aims to empower the board by proposing to grant the powers of civil court to the Board to inquire into the matters in discharge of their functions such as summoning of persons, documents etc.

The amendment also strengthens the Board to include Minister for Co-operation, Secretary Finance and Commerce & Industry Department in addition to controller, legal metrology.

The Bill has also defined ‘additional sugar cane price’ which means the additional price to be paid by the occupier of the factory to growers for sugarcane delivered at the factory gate over and above fair and remunerative price declared by the commissioner for cane development and director of sugar based on the decision of the board.

New clause

Also a clause ‘fair and remunerative price of sugarcane (FRP)’ as price fixed by the Central government under Clause 3 of Sugarcane (Control) Order 1966 for the year for sugarcane delivered at the factory gate has been inserted.

The government plans to strengthen the Board by including three ministers (Sugar, Agriculture and Co-operation), bureaucrats (seven), sugarcane growers (five) and factory owners (five) representing all four revenue divisions.

The Bill also proposes to form an expert committee for calculation of actual realisation in sugar factory and also to advise the Board. For price realisation, local factors such as actual recovery of sugarcane, realisation of sugar and its by-products such as bagasse, press mud and molasses and ethanol or other productions directly produced from sugarcane juice without producing sugar for deciding additional sugarcane price.

Board meetings

The Board will meet thrice a year – commencing before starting of the crushing season, after closure of the crushing season and at the end of the sugar season. As for the functions of the board, it has to decide sugarcane price on revenue sharing basis taking into consideration actual revenue realised from sugar, bagasse, molasses and press-mud.

The Bill has made provision for payment of sugarcane price in two stages – at first stage on supply of sugarcane for payment of fair and remunerative price based on previous year recovery and at second stage payment of additional price of sugarcane on revenue sharing basis determined on the actual realisation in a sugar factory.

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