Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday presented a five-point charter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, highlighting the State’s concerns over the sugarcane pricing crisis and long-pending irrigation project clearances, even as he sought Central support on a wider set of developmental and financial demands.
Highlighting the recent unrest among sugarcane farmers, the Chief Minister conveyed that the State had put in place an interim arrangement mandating an additional payment of ₹100 per tonne of sugarcane, with the government itself sharing ₹50 of this burden. Terming the arrangement a stop-gap solution, the memorandum argued that the core issues lay with the Centre.
The State urged the Prime Minister to revise the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar — fixed at ₹31 per kg for several years — and to ensure assured offtake of ethanol from Karnataka’s distilleries. A Central notification enabling States to fix harvesting and transportation costs was also sought as part of a sustainable pricing framework.
Irrigation projects
Mr. Siddaramaiah pressed for urgent intervention to break the deadlock on multiple major water projects, several of which have been awaiting Central approval for years. These included Mekedatu, Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II, Upper Bhadra and Kalasa–Banduri.
