Sugar Mills Pay Rs 8,126 Cr To Farmers

New Delhi: Sugar mills have paid Rs8,126 crore to sugarcane farmers in the first 70 days of the ongoing 2024-25 sugar season, Food Minister Pralhad Joshi told Parliament on Wednesday.

As of December 13, the total cane price payable stood at Rs11,141 crore, Joshi said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Pending payments of Rs3,015 crore remain, with Karnataka accounting for the maximum out-standing dues of Rs1,405 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The sugar season in India runs from October to September.

Joshi attributed the reduction in sugarcane arrears to on-going policy interventions.

In the previous 2023-24 season, out of total cane dues of Rs1,11,674 crore, approximately Rs1,10,399 crore has been paid, leaving only Rs1,275 crore outstanding as of December 13 - ef-fectively clearing 99 per cent of the dues.