The final report of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog Task Force headed by Ramesh Chand, Niti Aayog Member(Agriculture), “Sugarcane and Sugar Industry” recommended linking of Sugarcane prices to sugar rate to maintain the financial state and stability of the industry and to clear the arrears of the sugarcane farmers.
This report of the task force was finalized in March 2020 and published on August 20.
Recommendations of the report:
i.The report recommended to shift sugarcane cultivation areas to less water intensive crops by providing incentives to the farmers. Currently around 3 lakh hectares are under sugarcane cultivation that produce around 20 lakh tonnes of sugarcane.
ii.An incentive of Rs.6000 per hectare will be provided to the farmers to adopt alternate cultivation patterns with less water intensive crops.
iii.To introduce Revenue Sharing Formula (RSF) with Price Stabilisation Fund to protect the farmers with fair and remunerative price(FRP).
iv.Considering the suggested formula the prices of the sugarcane will be adjusted upwards keeping the view of improvement in the recovery rates in the past years.
v.The minimum support price of the sugar will be reviewed after 6 months from notification.
vi.To support the sugar mills with the cost of production, including the interest and maintenance cost the report recommends a onetime increase in the minimum sugar price to Rs.33 per kilogram.
vii.It also recommends to levy less on sugar at Rs.50 per quintal for 3 years, while around Rs. 4500 crore would be added to the fund which will support the banks providing soft loans to the mills to clear dues and update technology.
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Recent Related News:
i.NITI Aayog presented India’s 2nd Voluntary National Review at UN’s High-Level Political Forum; held virtually
About NITI Aayog:
Chairman– Narendra Modi
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Amitabh Kant
Headquarter– New Delhi
