The North News
Dinanagar, November 26
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has announced an increase in the price of sugarcane to Rs 416 per quintal for the coming crushing season, saying the move continues the state’s tradition of offering the highest rates to growers in India. Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a modernised cooperative sugar mill and a 28.5MW co-generation plant at Dinanagar on Wednesday, Mann said the revised price “reaffirms our commitment to the welfare of farmers” and will particularly benefit cultivators in border districts where sugarcane is a key crop. “Punjab has once again set a benchmark,” he said, adding that the state would continue to provide the highest sugarcane price in the country. He described sugarcane as an “ideal alternative crop” that can support crop diversification and urged the Union government to promote sugarcane as a water-efficient substitute for more water-intensive crops.
The mill Mann inaugurated — originally established in 1980 with a crushing capacity of 1,250 tonnes per day (TCD) and upgraded to 2,000 TCD in 1987 — has been modernised to an expanded capacity of 5,000 TCD. Officials said the region now produces nearly 80 lakh quintals of sugarcane against the mill’s earlier ability to crush only about 25 lakh quintals a season. The upgraded complex includes a sulphurless refined sugar plant, intended to produce premium-grade sugar, and a co-generation unit with a capacity of 28.5MW, of which 20MW is expected to be exported to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The state government estimates the power export will generate around Rs 20 crore in revenue per crushing season.
Mann said the modernisation would improve processing efficiency, raise sugar quality, reduce transport burdens for farmers and create both direct and indirect employment in the area. The number of farmers supplying cane to the mill is expected to rise from about 2,850 to nearly 7,025, he said, reducing reliance on distant private mills.
The Chief Minister also announced several local development measures. He said the long-pending demand for a medical college in the area would soon be addressed and that a government college for girls was planned at Tarn Taran. Work is also under way on a new road overbridge at Jandiala Guru to improve connectivity, he added.
