UP sugarcane arrears breach Rs 50-bn mark over low sugar prices.

Even as the Yogi Adityanath Government is eying record sugar production of almost 11 million tonnes (MT) in the ongoing 2017-18 sugarcane crushing season, the farmers arrears on mills have already breached the Rs 50-billion mark. The payments situation has deteriorated over the months, primarily owing to the fall in sugar prices. The ex-factory sugar prices have fallen by 13% from Rs 3,750/quintal when UP cane price known as State Advised Price (SAP) was fixed in October 2017 to about Rs 3,250/quintal at present. In January, the prices had fallen even deeper before staging some recovery.