After chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced a Rs 25 per quintal hike in the purchase prices of sugarcane in the state, Shree Renuka Sugars on Monday said sugar prices are expected to touch Rs 37/kg post the Uttar Pradesh government's increase.

The decision of the Yogi Adityanath government also assumes significance as it came barely a day before the 'Bharat Bandh' called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.

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In an interview with Manisha Gupta, Atul Chaturvedi, executive chairman, said "With elections around the corner in Uttar Pradesh, the state advised price (SAP) would be reasonably high, and at Rs 25 per quintal, it is fairly high. So it takes the price of cane in Uttar Pradesh to about Rs 3,500 per tonne. So this would mean that the government would probably have to seriously consider increasing the minimum selling price of sugar. Even at Rs 31, the industry was clamouring for an increase of about Rs 3-4 per kilogram."

Adityanath said, "The government has decided that the variety of sugarcane for which Rs 325 per quintal was paid to farmers, that price has been increased to Rs 350, which will be paid to farmers."

"The government has also decided to increase the price of ordinary sugarcane variety, to Rs 340 (per quintal) up from Rs 315 (per quintal). The government has also decided to hike the value of the 'anupyukt' (less yielding) variety of sugarcane by Rs 25 per quintal," he said.

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Elaborating about the benefits, Adityanath said this will enable the sugarcane farmers to increase their income by 8 percent, and will be a transformation in the lives of 45 lakh farmers. He also said that 119 sugar mills will be operated, and they will be linked with ethanol. The new sugar season starts next month.

With text inputs from PTI.

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