"The State Advisory Price of sugarcane fixed by the government is nothing more than fooling the farmers and jugglery of figures as actual hike is Rs 35 per quintal and not Rs 40 per quintal," Congress leader V M Singh said.
He said Rs 40 per quintal has been hiked for early variety of cane, which is only 10 to 20 per cent of the total sugarcane produced in the state. "For the normal variety of cane the actual hike is only Rs 35 per quintal, from Rs 205 per quintal to Rs 240 per quintal," Singh said, demanding at least Rs 260 per quintal for the lowest quality of cane.
"Production cost has increased manifold in the last year. The SAP announced is almost equal to the cost of production," he said. The BJP also demanded that the government should fix SAP at Rs 300 per quintal.
"Cost of production has increased by 70 per cent to 80 per cent in the last few years...the government should fix SAP at minimum Rs 300 per quintal," BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. SP demanded that the government should announce SAP Rs 350 per quintal.
"The SAP announced is not a remunerative price as cost of production and raw material has increased considerably," SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.