Bengaluru.(PTI): With farmers’ protesting in the northern districts of Karnataka, demanding a fair price for their produce, the Karnataka government has decided to fix the price Rs 3,300 per tonne of sugarcane, yielding a recovery of 11.25 per cent, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday.

The CM also appealed to protesting sugarcane farmers to cooperate accepting the new price, and withdraw the agitation.

Sugarcane farmers' protest at Gurlapur Cross in Mudalagi taluk of Belagavi district demanding a procurement price of Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane entered ninth day on Friday. It has also spread across various parts of north Karnataka districts like Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Haveri among others.

With the protest intensifying, CM Siddaramaiah called for a meeting with farmer leaders and representatives of sugar factories on Friday.

"The Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Belagavi district had offered Rs 3,100 per tonne of sugarcane yielding a recovery of 10.25 per cent, and Rs 3,200 per tonne for recovery of 11.25 per cent," Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters here, after the meeting, he said, "As the protest has continued despite this. In addition to this, today we have taken a decision to pay Rs 50 from factory owners side and Rs 50 from the government. That means to say Rs 100 in total will be paid in addition to what DC had offered to the farmers per metric tonne."

When asked whether the farmers are satisfied, the CM said, "I hope so."

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New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.

"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.

The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.

Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".

"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.

"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.

In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.

It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.