The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has announced an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugarcane by Rs 30 per quintal for the 2024-26 season. Following the hike, the new MSP stands at Rs 400 per quintal for the early variety and Rs 390 per quintal for the normal variety, resulting in an estimated additional payment of Rs 3,000 crore to farmers.
Sugarcane Development Minister Choudhury Laxmi Narain highlighted that the state government has consistently increased sugarcane prices, increasing the MSP four times since 2017. He noted that sugarcane farmers have received record payments of Rs 2,90,225 crore in the past eight and a half years, “From 2007 to 2017, only Rs 1,47,346 crore in sugarcane price payments could be made, whereas in the eight and a half years since 2017, sugarcane price payments alone have amounted to Rs 2,90,225 crore,” he said.
Presently, the state has 122 operating sugar mills, ranking second in the country, even though previous governments caused significant damage to the sugar industry, with 21 mills sold at throwaway prices.
The Minister stated that the state government’s transparent management has attracted Rs12,000 crore in investment into the industry. In the past eight years, four new sugar mills have been established, six previously closed mills have been reopened, and 42 mills have expanded their capacity.
Moreover, production capacity has increased to the equivalent of eight new large mills, and CBG plants have been installed in two mills.
Minister Narain said the “Smart Sugarcane Farmer” system has made the sugarcane slip system completely online, eliminating the role of middlemen, with sugarcane price payments going directly into farmers’ bank accounts through DBT.
The Minister added that a centralized, web-based “Smart Sugarcane Farmer” system has been developed for online management of sugarcane acreage, sugarcane forecasting, scheduling, and slips. The Government of India has called it a “model system.”
Additionally, Uttar Pradesh ranks first in the country in ethanol production.
Ethanol production in the state has increased from 41 crore liters to 182 crore liters, while the number of distilleries has grown from 61 to 97.
Meanwhile, with a significant increase in sugarcane acreage,from 20 lakh hectares to 29.51 lakh hectares, Uttar Pradesh also ranks first in the country.