With an eye apparently on the forthcoming Assembly elections, the Uttar Pradesh Government today hiked the cane price by Rs 40 to a maximum of Rs 250 per quintal.
“In the interest of farmers, the Government has decided to hike the State Advisory Price (SAP) of cane by Rs 40 per quintal,” the Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, told reporters here.
She said that now the prices of different varieties would be Rs 235 a quintal, Rs 240 and Rs 250 respectively.
“The decision will benefit more than 40 lakh cane farmers in the State,” she said.
In the last crushing season, the Government had fixed the SAP between Rs 205 a quintal and Rs 210/quintal.
Ms Mayawati said that sugar mills have also been directed to start crushing within the next three days at all cost.
“Compared to previous regimes, the Government has hiked SAP by 65 per cent in the last four years,” she said.
The Chief Minister said that the SAP announced by the Government was higher than that of Punjab where cane price has been fixed at Rs 220, 225 and 230 per quintal for different categories.