Mumbai, Oct 28 - Sugar millers in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh may challenge the state government's decision to hike the minimum cane price in the court, a senior official of the U.P. Sugar Mills' Association said.
"We are thinking of taking legal route against the hike in the state advised price," Shyam Lal Gupta, secretary of the association, told Reuters on Monday.
The High Court opens on Nov. 3 after a holiday and the millers may file a petition on that day, Gupta said.
The state last week hiked the minimum price, or the state advisory price (SAP), of sugarcane by 12 percent to 140 rupees per 100 kg for the the year ending September 2009. SAP is the minimum price to be paid to the farmers for their produce.
Cane price has been a contentious issue between the millers and the state. A case regarding the cane price for the year ended September 2008 is awaiting final judgement in the Supreme Court.
The sugar year runs from October to September.
A possible legal action by the private millers may delay the sugarcane crushing in the state this year as well.
Millers were expected to start crushing early this year to prevent diversion of cane as availability is seen lower.
In 2007/08, mills started crushing towards the end of November after a court allowed millers to pay farmers lower prices for cane.
Uttar Pradesh is the second largest sugar producer after western state of Maharashtra. Together they contributed close to 60 percent of total output for the year ended September 2008, estimated at over 26 million tonnes.