Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has claimed that during the Bharatiya Janata Party regime, cane farmers have been paid a record cane price of more than Rs1,00,000 crore, during  2017-2020 period.
“Due to the tireless efforts made in the interest of cane farmers, a record cane price payment of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore was possible between 2017-2020,” the chief minister said.
He made these comments after transferring Rs 418 crore through Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) to cane farmers here, claiming that his government  has paid Rs 1,00,325 crore during his 3-year rule to the cane growers.
This payment is Rs 46,633 crore more than the combined cane price payment of Rs 53,367 crore of the previous three years of 2014-17.
He also said that the cane price payment during 2017-20 was Rs 4,785 crore more than the cumulative cane price payment of Rs 95,215 crore paid during 2012-17 period.
It is noteworthy that the outstanding cane price payment of Rs 4,466 crore of the year 2012-2017 period was also paid during 2017-2020 to the farmers of the state.
The chief minister said that the state government was committed to protecting the economic interests of cane farmers. “Even during the coronavirus pandemic when all the industries were closed, the sugar mills of the state continued crushing operations. It was the commitment of the government to safeguarding the interest of farmers, that the supply of their sugar cane remained uninterrupted during the lockdown period,” he said.
“Though the sugar sale remained negligible during lockdown, cane price payment of Rs 5,953 crore was made to farmers in this period,” he said.
In the current crushing season 2019-20, the sugar mills of the state crushed 1,116 lakh tons of sugarcane and produced 126.5 lakh tons of sugar. This crushing season and sugar production was recorded as the highest in the history of UP.
There are 48 lakh sugarcane farmers in the state. In the interest of farmers, 119 sugar mills continued to operate in the state during the lockdown. Around 25,000-40,000 sugarcane farmers are associated with each mill. Each mill employs 8,000-10,000 people.
“As these mills were functional during the lockdown, farmers faced no difficulty in earning their livelihood. As a result of it, Uttar Pradesh ranks first in the country in sugarcane and sugar production, State Development Cane Minister Suresh Rana said.
He said along with this, the mills and distilleries achieved the capacity to manufacture 5,00,000 litres of sanitiser on a daily basis.
“Today, the situation is that sanitiser is being supplied from Uttar Pradesh to 28 states and also other countries during the coronavirus crisis,” he said.
Rana said that ensuring cane price payments to farmers was the top priority of the government. He said the state government was determined to promote the economic interest and the all-around development of sugarcane farmers.
Principal Secretary (Cane Development) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said that on Friday, the chief minister interacted with sugarcane farmers of different districts of the state through video conferencing.
He said feedback was taken from farmers about cane price payment and other issues related to sugarcane.