Karnataka's sugarcane farmers are caught between a price formula that hasn't moved in years and climate-hit fields that yield less sugar than the rules assume — and now Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has put that frustration in a formal letter to Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, demanding a sweeping reset of how the Centre prices their crop. The letter, announced by the Chief Minister's Office of Karnataka on Friday, 30 October 2026, lays out five specific demands that touch everything from the base Fair and Remunerative Price to ethanol allocation and sugar's long-frozen Minimum Selling Price.

The ₹1,850-per-tonne gap farmers are fighting to close

At the centre of the letter is a stark arithmetic grievance. The current central FRP stands at ₹3,650 per tonne at a 10.25% sugar recovery rate. Karnataka's farmers want ₹5,500 per tonne — a figure derived from the C2+50% formula recommended by the Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Commission in 2006, which factors in the full cost of cultivation including imputed family labour and land rent. That gap of roughly ₹1,850 per tonne is the financial chasm the state is asking New Delhi to bridge.

The letter also targets the recovery benchmark itself. At 10.25% recovery, many small and climate-affected farms in Karnataka fall short, meaning farmers are effectively penalised for geography and weather. Shivakumar has asked the Centre to restore the base recovery rate to 9.5% — the level Karnataka had itself recommended — at which the state's proposed FRP would be ₹4,440 per tonne, a more immediately achievable ask than the full Swaminathan number.

A sugar MSP frozen since February 2019

The Minimum Selling Price of sugar has not moved from ₹31 per kg since February 2019 — a stretch of more than seven years during which input costs, wages and fuel have all risen sharply. Karnataka wants it revised to ₹41.50 per kg. The MSP effectively sets a floor for mill revenues and, by extension, caps what mills can afford to pay farmers above the FRP; keeping it flat depresses the entire downstream chain.

Ethanol: a ₹225-crore-capacity sector receiving barely half its quota

Ethanol has become a critical second revenue stream for sugar mills under the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, which set aggressive blending targets. But Karnataka says its cane and molasses-based distilleries have a capacity of roughly 225 crore litres, yet received an allocation of only 117 crore litres in ESY 2025-26 — barely half. The state has recommended procurement prices of ₹73, ₹67 and ₹61 per litre for different feedstock grades and is urging a fair reallocation.

Linked to this is the revenue-sharing formula set by the Dr. C. Rangarajan Committee in 2012, which determines how ethanol profits are divided between mills and farmers. As ethanol revenues have grown, the formula has not kept pace, and the Chief Minister is asking the Centre to revisit it so farmers capture a proportionate share of the windfall.

What Karnataka has already delivered — and what it's watching next

Shivakumar's letter is not empty advocacy: it is backed by a state track record. He noted that 99.85% of 2025-26 cane dues had been cleared as of 15 October 2026. Mills had voluntarily paid ₹500–600 per tonne above FRP under farmer agreements, and the state government had channelled ₹290 crore as an additional ₹100 per tonne support. Transparency measures — NABL-accredited mill laboratories, digital weighment systems and fortnightly checks — are also in place. The state will separately review the approximately 8% deduction applied on machine-harvested cane in consultation with mills and farmers.

The consultations that preceded the letter were held at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Belagavi, and included a session with the committee chaired by economist Prof. Ramesh Chand. The Chief Minister has asked the Union Government to announce FRP both with and without harvesting and transportation charges, revise C-heavy ethanol prices, and review the ethanol directive after the February 2027 crop estimate — setting a clear calendar checkpoint for the next round of pressure.

Five demands, seven years of frozen sugar pricing, and a crop estimate due in four months: the sugarcane standoff between Bengaluru and New Delhi just got a formal deadline to meet.