Overview
- Growers demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne net have extended their agitation across Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Haveri and other districts into an eighth day.
- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called separate meetings in Bengaluru on Nov 7 with sugar mill owners in the morning and farmer leaders in the afternoon after a cabinet decision to seek an urgent appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Farmer leaders declined to travel to Bengaluru, set a Saturday evening deadline for a higher price, put off a Belagavi bandh for now, and warned of statewide highway blockades and a bandh on Sunday if talks fail.
- District officials say mills have offered about Rs 3,200/tonne at 11.25% recovery and Rs 3,100 at 10.25%, excluding harvesting and transport; the CM’s letter says H&T deductions of Rs 800–900/tonne reduce effective payments well below the FRP.
- The Centre’s FRP stands at Rs 3,550/tonne at 10.25% recovery, and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi urged the state to negotiate while indicating permission for around 15 lakh tonnes of sugar exports; the state also cited low ethanol offtake and announced weighment transparency measures.