Shetti’s Rs 385 cane price pitch tests sugar’s squeeze
Raju Shetti is trying to push rural inflation onto mills and New Delhi, with sugarcane farmers now asking for Rs 385 per quintal against an already-raised floor of Rs 355.
Raju Shetti is demanding a sugarcane Fair and Remunerative Price of Rs 385 per quintal as fertiliser, fuel and transport costs bite deeper into farm margins. The ask lands above the Centre’s current 2025-26 FRP of Rs 355 per quintal, which was itself raised in April 2025. 
Indian Express 
Centre hikes sugarcane price by 4.41% to ₹355 per quintal for 2025-26
Why this is more than a farm protest
In 
India’s sugar belt, the FRP is not just a price signal; it is a political transfer mechanism. Once the Centre lifts the floor, mills have to pay it, and the cost ripples through balance sheets, cane dues and local politics. The government justified the 2025-26 hike by saying Rs 355 was 105.2% above the estimated cost of production of Rs 173 per quintal, but that calculation has not stopped farmers from arguing that input inflation has outpaced the official support formula. Centre hikes sugarcane price by 4.41% to ₹355 per quintal for 2025-26 Farmers seeks review of FRP for sugarcane
That is why Shetti’s number matters. A move to Rs 385 would be another Rs 30 per quintal on top of the current floor, and it would arrive in a sector where the sugar minimum selling price has been stuck at Rs 31 per kg since 2019 and ethanol prices have remained largely unchanged. The squeeze is visible in Maharashtra, where mills are already dealing with pending cane dues and a widening gap between regulated input costs and sales realizations. 
Frontline Sugar mills to report 5-8% revenue growth in FY26 on better cane supply: ICRA Report
Who gains, who loses
Farmers gain the obvious upside: a higher assured price in a crop where input inflation is immediate and bargaining power is weak. Mills and the Union government lose, because any fresh hike raises procurement costs without a matching rise in sugar or ethanol revenues. The result is a familiar policy trap: support the cane grower and stress the mill, or protect mill viability and invite a farm backlash. Frontline
What to watch next
Watch whether Shetti’s demand becomes a Maharashtra-wide pressure campaign before the next Union pricing decision. The key date is the Centre’s next FRP announcement for the 2026-27 season: if officials hold the line near Rs 355, this stays a protest demand; if they move, it resets the floor for the entire sugar economy. Indian Express
