K’taka fixes sugarcane price at Rs 3,300 per tonne after 7-hour talks: CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru – Karnataka’s chief minister, Siddaramaiah, set the state’s sugarcane price at Rs 3,300 per tonne after a seven‑hour meeting with sugar factory owners and farmer leaders. The decision came during a live press conference in Bengaluru on Friday.

The meeting was aimed at breaking a nine‑day protest by sugarcane farmers in Belagavi and nearby districts. The farmers were pressing for Rs 3,500 per tonne and had even courted support from the BJP’s Karnataka unit. At the protest’s centre, a Gurlapur Cross, farmers celebrated the announcement with fireworks.

Siddaramaiah said the state and factories will each contribute Rs 50 so farmers can receive the agreed price. He added that the government will send a delegation to the central government to discuss “discrimination against Karnataka farmers” – a move that both farmers and factory owners welcomed.

Key background

• 81 sugar factories in Karnataka – 11 cooperatives, one state‑run, the rest private.
• The state first floated Rs 3,100 for a 10.25 % recovery and Rs 3,200 for an 11.25 % recovery. Farmers rejected these offers.
• Recovery rates vary by district; the state will increase any rate by Rs 100 per tonne.
• Last year Karnataka produced 5.6 million metric tonnes of sugarcane; this year the target is over 6 million.

Siddaramaiah told reporters that the new rate is higher than what the Belagavi Deputy Commissioner had suggested and that most factory owners have accepted it. He urged farmers to pull back from protests to maintain law and order and asked factory owners to continue their support.

The chief minister affirmed the government’s commitment to solving sugarcane farmers’ problems, hoping the new price will ease tensions and let farmers get fair returns.

Source: ianslive


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