CHENNAI: Giving effect to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s announcement in the Assembly on August 10, the state government has sanctioned `603.34 crore to provide a special incentive of Rs 709.50 per metric tonne of sugarcane supplied during the 2025-26 crushing season, thereby assuring a total cane price of Rs 4,000 per tonne for cane with 9.5% sugar recovery. The G.O issued in this regard said farmers with sugar recovery above 9.5% will receive a correspondingly higher price.
Agriculture Minister R Vinoth, in a statement, said the state incentive is over and above the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of `3,290.50 per tonne fixed by the union government.
The incentive will benefit around 90,000 farmers who supplied sugarcane to 29 sugar mills, including 12 cooperative, two public-sector and 15 private sugar mills. The minister said the incentive will cover registered farmers who supplied cane between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026.
“The special incentive will be credited directly to the bank accounts of eligible farmers linked with Aadhaar, following verification through the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency,” he said and added that the disbursement of the incentive is expected to begin around the Deepavali festival.
The incentive will not be available for unregistered cane or cane purchased through intermediaries. Sugar mills have been directed to furnish farmer-wise cane quantity and Aadhaar-linked bank details.
Verification will include checks by cane assistants and cane officers, followed by district-level verification under committees headed by collectors. A third-party consultant will scrutinise and validate the farmer database, while a dedicated server is proposed for its secure maintenance.