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As sugar mills in Maharashtra have expressed their inability to pay the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) in one shot, farmer organisations are threatening an agitation.
While it is binding on the sugar mills to make payments to cane farmers after 15 days from the start of the crushing season, two months have passed and mills are not paying farmers the FRP, said MP and farmer leader Raju Shetti.
FRP is the minimum price to be paid by the mills to the cane growers. The total FRP payable had hit ₹2,500 crore by the end of November, according to government officials.
The FRP is fixed on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in consultation with various State governments and sugar industry stakeholders.
“We are giving eight days deadline to sugar mills to pay the FRP to farmers. If mills fail to respond, we are going to launch an agitation from January 1,” said Shetti speaking to reporters. He alleged that the State government was not playing a proactive role to solve the problem.
Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President and Chairman of Vasantdada Sugar Institute, has approached the State government on behalf of mill owners demanding a package of ₹500 crore.
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