In a major relief for Maharashtra’s sugarcane and onion growers, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Ajit Pawar, senior ministers, and representatives of cooperative and agricultural institutions at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The meeting focused on several long-pending demands concerning Maharashtra’s cooperative sugar sector and farmers, including an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar, enhancement of ethanol quotas, debt restructuring for sugar mills, interest subvention, direct onion procurement from farmers, grading of agricultural produce, and export surcharge on onion seeds.
In a Facebook post following the meeting, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the discussions with Amit Shah as “highly positive” and expressed confidence that the Centre would soon take favourable decisions that could provide major relief to farmers and cooperative sugar factories across the state.
Fadnavis said Amit Shah acknowledged the need to increase the minimum support price of sugar. The Centre has also agreed in principle to take a decision within the next two months to substantially enhance ethanol quotas, a move expected to improve the financial condition of cooperative sugar mills.
The Union Minister further assured support for working jointly with the Maharashtra government on debt restructuring measures for sugar factories. Immediate release of pending interest subvention amounts was also agreed upon during the meeting.
The Centre has additionally sought a proposal from the Maharashtra government regarding quota pricing and related regulatory measures for the sugar sector, which is expected to be submitted shortly.
One of the key highlights of the meeting was the discussion on onion procurement by NAFED and NCCF. Maharashtra leaders demanded that onion procurement should happen directly from farmers instead of traders operating in wholesale markets.
The Centre responded positively to the demand and discussions were also held on increasing onion procurement from the existing 2 lakh tonnes to 10 lakh tonnes through NAFED and NCCF.
The meeting also addressed concerns over large-scale export of onion seeds, which leaders argued was affecting the domestic onion export market. A proposal to impose a substantial export surcharge on onion seeds reportedly received a favourable response.
It was further clarified that while certain restrictions may apply to onion seeds, there is currently no ban on onion exports. Discussions were also held on increasing the onion procurement price beyond the recently revised Rs 15.80 per kg.
The state government also proposed machine-based grading of onions to ensure farmers receive fair prices based on quality.
Issues concerning mango growers, particularly Alphonso mango farmers, were also discussed during the meeting. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reportedly assured that a meeting with insurance companies would be convened to find suitable solutions for affected farmers.
Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was also present at the meeting.
