The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a 17 per cent hike in Fair and Renumerative price (FRP) of sugarcane that mills pay to Sugarcane farmers to Rs 170 per quintal for 2012-13 season. The hike will ensure a guranteed price to cane farmers and will be uniformly applicable all over the country.

The FRP, the minimum price for sugarcane farmers for the ongoing marketing year stands at Rs 145 per quintal. India, the world's second largest sugar producer, is currently exporting Sugarcane on account of bumper production, which stood at 357.66 million tonnes in 2011-12.

The CCEA also approved the proposal of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to defreeze the tariff value on imported RBD Palmolien from 484 US Dollars per tonne and align it with current international prices.