Sugar mills pay nearly Rs 1.04 lakh crore to cane farmers so far in 2022-23 season; cane arrears at Rs 9,499 crore

Sugar mills have paid nearly 1.04 lakh crore to cane farmers so far in the current marketing year ending September, while Rs 9,499 crore is yet to be paid, the government said on Friday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that payment of cane dues to farmers is a continuous process and the outstanding cane arrears are decreasing continuously during the last five years.

She informed that about 99.9 per cent of cane dues up to sugar seasons 2020-21 have been cleared.

"For the previous sugar season 2021-22, more than 99.9 per cent cane dues have been cleared and in the current sugar Season 2022-23, about 91.6 per cent cane dues are cleared as on July 17, 2023," the minister said.

As per the data, the total amount payable as of July 17 of the current 2022-23 marketing year (October-September) is Rs 1,13,236 crore, out of which Rs 1,03,737 crore has been paid and Rs 9,499 crore is yet to be cleared.

Out of the total cane arrears of Rs 9,499 crore, millers of Uttar Pradesh need to clear Rs 6,315 crore outstanding to sugarcane farmers. Cane arrears in Gujarat is Rs 1,651 crore and Maharashtra Rs 631 crore.

The powers have been delegated and vested with the state governments for monitoring the cane price payment position of sugar factories on a periodical basis and in case of delay in payments, suitable action is taken by them, Jyoti said.