Cane dues of farmers till last season are still over Rs 5000 crores : Govt data

New Delhi, December 10 (Commoditiescontrol) Cane dues of farmers till last sugar season 2021-21 are still over Rs 5,000 crores as per the government data. The cane dues of farmers for sugar seasons 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21 have been reduced to Rs.65 crore, Rs. 185 crore, Rs. 365 crore, Rs. 130 crore & Rs. 4445 crore respectively.This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ms.Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

In total, cane dues till last session are Rs 5,190 so far, as per the data.

As per information received from State Governments, amount of cane dues payable, cane dues paid and cane arrears against sugar mills state-wise during last five sugar seasons (October – September) is at Annexure. The cane crushing in current sugar season 2021-22 started late in some States due to late retreat of monsoon.

Payment of cane price to sugarcane growing farmers by the sugar mills is a continuous process. In sugar seasons 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21, cane price payable to sugarcane farmers on all India basis was Rs. 55340 crore, Rs. 83629 crore, Rs. 86617 crore, Rs. 75907 crore & Rs. 92881 crore respectively. As a result of various measures taken by the Government, the cane dues of farmers for sugar seasons 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21 have been reduced to Rs.65 crore, Rs. 185 crore, Rs. 365 crore, Rs. 130 crore & Rs. 4445 crore respectively, as on 06.12.2021.

There is no major delay in payment to sugarcane farmers and as mentioned above, the cane arrears are nominal & are declining.

However, with a view to facilitate prompt clearance of cane dues of farmers by sugar mills, the Central Government has been taking various interventions from time to time like promoting diversion of excess sugar to ethanol, providing assistance to sugar mills to offset the cost of cane, fixation of Minimum Selling Price of sugar, extending financial assistance to sugar mills for maintenance of buffer stocks, extending financial assistance to sugar mills to facilitate export of sugar, extending soft loans to sugar mills, etc. As a result of these measures, more than 98% of sugarcane dues payable has been paid during last 5 years.

ANNEXURE

Status of Pending Cane Dues of Farmers as on 06 December, 2021.

(RS. IN CRORE)