CCEA hikes sugarcane fair price to Rs 230/qtl for 2015-16

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a Rs 10 per quintal increase in the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane to Rs 230 for the 2015-16 season (October-September).

The FRP is the minimum price that sugarcane farmers are legally guaranteed. However, state governments are free to fix their own state advised price (SAP) and millers can offer any price above the FRP.

The government has fixed sugarcane price at Rs 220 per quintal for the current 2014-15 season.

"The CCEA has approved the FRP of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the 2015-16 sugar season to be fixed at Rs 230 per quintal. This decision will ensure a guaranteed price to cane growers," an official statement said.

The FRP will be linked to a basic recovery rate of 9.5 per cent, subject to a premium of Rs 2.42 per quintal for every 0.1 percentage point increase in recovery above that level, it added.

The CCEA has approved in toto the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a statutory body that advises the government on the pricing policy for major farm produce.

The FRP is fixed after taking into consideration the margins for sugarcane farmers, based on the cost of production of sugarcane, including the cost of transportation.