Centre not increasing MSP to complement fair remuneration rate for sugarcane farmers: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 7 (ANI): Amid the ongoing protests of sugarcane farmers, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the Central government of not raising the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugarcane farmers. The chief Minister has also written to the central government much before but he has not received cooperation from the ministers from Karnataka.
"The central government is not increasing the MSP rate to complement the FRP rate. The central government has not increased the MSP rate since 2019. It has not increased the ethanol rate either," the Chief Minister's office said.
Earlier today, CM Siddaramaiah held a meeting with sugarcane farmers and factory owners at Vidhan Soudha hall.
According to the statement, the factory owners urged the Chief Minister to write a letter to the central government and raise the demand.
The statement mentioned that the Chief Minister responded to this and said that he had written a letter to the center and the Prime Minister a long time ago to increase the MSP rate.
"Till now, the central government has not increased the MSP. The central ministers representing the state have also not cooperated in increasing the MSP rate for sugarcane growers, the Prime Minister is not talking to them," the statement mentioned.
Talking about the role of the central government, the statement added, "It is the responsibility of the state and central governments to help sugarcane growers. It is the job of the central government to fix the FRP keeping in mind the interests of farmers. The central government has fixed the FRP on 6-05-2025."
The proposal to impose a tax of 60 paise per unit on the electricity sold by sugar factories will be reviewed, the Chief Minister said.
Murugesh Nirani, speaking on behalf of the sugar factory owners, said that the problem of sugarcane growers has continued in all governments, with the state government has not renewed the power purchase agreement from sugar factories.
According to the representative, in Maharashtra Rs 6 is being paid for each unit of electricity purchased from sugar factories, and the Karnataka government should work on a similar model.
Meanwhile, protesting sugarcane farmers in Karnataka allegedly threw slippers at State Minister Shivanand Patil's car when he was leaving the protest site in Belagavi on November 6.
The protest by sugarcane farmers demanding a higher price for their produce entered its eighth day in Belagavi on Thursday. The protestors also blocked the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway.
The farmers are demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne for their produce. (ANI)