The protest has been suspended, not called off, KRRS leaders say

Sugarcane growers in Belagavi claimed that they had only suspended the agitation and not withdrawn it completely.

“Our protest will continue until the farmers take home a total of ₹5,500 per tonne,” Chunappa Pujeri, president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene, told reporters in Gurlapur on Friday.

“We have accepted the price of ₹3,600 per tonne offered by the factories as a temporary solution to our problems. This is conditional on the fact that the factories have agreed to share their profits with us. This is the first time in the country that the factories have agreed to a profit sharing formula,” Mr Pujeri said.

“However, our demand of ₹ 5,500 per tonne remains unchanged. We also expect Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to release an incentive of ₹ 1,000 per tonne as the state notified price. The state government in neighboring Maharashtra has promised to release ₹ 3,900 in the first installment ₹ 0 for the Minimum later and ₹ 20 for the Union Selling Price (MSP) of sugar released by SAP at ₹ 700 per tonne, in addition to the centrally fixed fair and remunerative price.

Meanwhile, farmers in Vijayapur demanded that the profit sharing formula agreed at Belagavi be implemented across the state. KRRS leaders submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner K. Anand. He responded by calling a meeting of all factory and farmer leaders in Vijayapur on Saturday.

“There are 10 sugar mills in the district, but not all of them pay the same price. Last year, while factories in the Krishna belt paid around ₹ 3,300 per tonne, those in the Bhima belt paid only about ₹ 3,000. This year, we want all the mills to pay ₹ 3,600 RStagne Shanouda leader for ₹ 3,600. Present were Sangamesh Sagar, Ramanagouda Patil, Dayananda Koli, Mahadeva Banasode, Sangappa Takke, Abhishekha Hoogar, Mudakanna and other leaders.

In Bagalkot, however, leading farmers refused to accept the price of ₹3,600 offered by the factories. “We have seen with our own eyes that a politician who was a director in one cooperative factory has now set up 20 private factories. It shows that they are making money regularly. If they want to make unlimited money, why should farmers suffer? We want ₹5,500 per tonne for sugarcane,” they claimed.

Meanwhile, Raju Shetti, former MP and founder of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatan (SSS), on Friday ended his nationwide protest on the rasta roko expressway. He informed that the state government has announced that the farmers are likely to get ₹4,200 in three installments. Factories will initially pay ₹3,900 per tonne before crushing, ₹100 after crushing is completed and ₹200 per tonne if the Union government revises the MSP for sugar. This was announced after a meeting of factories and farmers convened by Minister Hassan Mushrif, Mr. Shetti said.

He credited the united struggle of Karnataka and Maharashtra for what he called the provisional success of the agitation.

SSS members blocked the Pune-Bangalore highway at Kini zakat naka for two days. It was opened on Friday evening.

Published – November 6, 2026 10:50 PM IST