Cane farmers get relief as Saraswati Sugar Mills issues payment schedule
Saraswati Sugar Mills (SSM), Yamunanagar, has begun cane price payments for the ongoing crushing season, providing much-needed relief to sugarcane farmers. The mill, which started operations on November 12, 2024, has crushed 29 lakh quintals of sugarcane so far, amounting to approximately Rs 116 crore.
The delay in initiating payments this year was attributed to the absence of a government notification regarding the subsidy formula for the 2024-25 season. The notification, typically issued alongside the state advised price (SAP), was delayed, which stalled payments.
“The SSM is well known as a good paymaster to the farmers and has never delayed cane price payment in the past. However, this year, due to a technical issue, the payment could not start earlier,” said SK Sachdeva, chief executive of the SSM.
Sachdeva confirmed that the mill has now begun issuing payments and released the payment schedule. This decision was made after Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana assured the SSM that the subsidy formula notification would be issued soon.
DP Singh, senior vice-president (cane) of the SSM, said: “The SAP for the current season 2024-2025 was fixed at Rs 400 per quintal and its notification was issued along with the cane price notification for the previous season. However, the subsidy formula notification for 2024-25 was delayed, which held up the payments.”
Singh added that the payment schedule has now been issued, with a margin of 14 days.
SSM has set a target to crush 160 lakh quintals of sugarcane this season, compared to the 146 lakh quintals crushed last year.
Several farmer associations had earlier expressed concerns over the payment delay. Delegations led by Sanju Gundiana, district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni group), Subhash Gurjar, district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait group) and Rambir Singh Chauhan, district president of Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, met the SSM management and Haryana Agriculture Minister to demand immediate action.
