Government increases sugarcane FRP to Rs 275
New Delhi, July 18: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a Rs 20 per quintal increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane to Rs 275 for the 2018-19 season starting October.
"The cost of sugar production is estimated to be only Rs 155 per quintal against which we have decided to give FRP of Rs 275 per quintal. This is 77.42 per cent higher than the cost of production," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here after the cabinet meeting.
The FRP is the minimum price legally guaranteed to farmers for sugarcane.
As per the estimates issued by industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), total sugar production in season 2018-19 starting October is expected to be 35-35.5 million tonnes.
Prasad said that the total remuneration for sugarcane to farmers for the year 2018-19 is estimated to be Rs 83,000 crore.
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Notices issued to Himachal conductor, driver for anti-Rahul Gandhi audio clip playing in govt bus
Shimla, Nov 30: After finding itself in soup over a CID enquiry on "missing samosas", the Himachal Pradesh government is again in a tight spot for issuing notices to a state roadways conductor and driver after an audio clip with defamatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was allegedly played in their bus.
A man in his complaint to the Chief Minister's Office said defamatory words were used against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders in an audio clip which was played in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus plying between Shimla and Sanjauli on November 5.
In a letter to the conductor and driver of the bus on November 25, the HRTC sought explanation from them. The letter went viral on the internet.
Talking to reporters on Friday, HRTC Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur said a routine complaint was received from a customer after which a fact finding enquiry was initiated. The enquiry was closed as the allegations were found baseless.
However, the wording of the explanation sought could have been better and the officers have been verbally conveyed to improve in the coming times, he added.
The defamatory words were allegedly used in a debate being played in the audio clip.
Reacting sharply to the letter, BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma, said the government should appoint marshals to stop audios being played in buses.
"Such decisions of the government are damaging the reputation of the state government as well as the state," he added.
Earlier, the state CID department had ordered an internal enquiry on the samosas which were brought for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during a function and by mistake were served to the his security staff. A senior police official had termed the faux pas as an anti-CID and ant-Government act.
