States » SouthPosted at: Oct 28 2026 1:05PM


Karnataka cane growers threaten statewide lock-up of sugar stocks

Belagavi, Oct 28 (UNI) Sugarcane farmers in Karnataka have threatened to lock sugar mill godowns across the state in an escalation of their agitation, demanding a price of Rs 5,500 per tonne of cane and pressing the Centre to raise the minimum selling price of sugar.
The warning comes as protests at Gurlapur in Mudalgi taluk of Belagavi district entered the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, with farmers preparing to decide their next course of action at a meeting in the evening.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene state president Chunappa Pujeri called on farmers across Karnataka to join the proposed agitation, seeking to intensify pressure on the Centre and sugar factories to resolve the cane price dispute.
Pujeri also urged a central committee scheduled to visit Karnataka from October 29 to include Belagavi district in its itinerary to assess the ground situation and hear the farmers' grievances.
At the centre of the dispute is the demand for an increase in the minimum selling price of sugar, which farmers argue would improve mills' realisations and enable them to pay Rs 5,500 per tonne of sugarcane.
Pujeri urged union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi to convene a meeting with sugar factory managements and provide an assurance that sugar prices would not fall below Rs 5,000 per quintal.
Arguing that global sugar shortages should help support domestic prices, he said better realisations for mills were necessary to ensure remunerative returns for growers.
In a warning that could further intensify the confrontation, Pujeri said sugar factories would be held responsible for any untoward incident if they attempted to move sugar stocks out of their godowns at night after the proposed lock-up campaign.
The farmers' association was scheduled to meet at Gurlapur on Wednesday evening to decide the next phase of the agitation.
The confrontation places renewed pressure on the state and Centre to broker a settlement between growers and sugar mills, with farmers linking the price they receive for cane to the price at which mills can sell sugar.
The proposed action threatens to shift the dispute beyond protests at Gurlapur, although the timing and statewide scope of the godown-locking campaign were yet to be formally established.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Karnataka cane growers threaten statewide lock-up of sugar stocks
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