MUMBAI, May 28 -- In what would bring relief to owners of sugar factories, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah on Wednesday assured a Maharashtra delegation led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, that the Centre would provide relief to them by restructuring outstanding loans taken for expansion, hike the minimum support price (MSP) of sugar from the existing Rs.31 per kg and increase the state's quota for ethanol procurement from sugar factories. Additionally, in response to protests by onion farmers across the state over fair prices for their produce, over the last two months, Shah assured the delegation that the state and Centre would procure 10 lakh tonne of the produce from the farmers and configure the subsidy of Rs.1,500 per quintal. The Centre has also assured that it would consider imposing a surcharge on export of onion seeds. Sugar factories have sought an increase in the MSP to Rs.43 per kg and a higher ethanol procurement quota, arguing that the current allocation meets around 30% of their installed capacity. Maharashtra's sugar factories had been allotted a quota of 325 crore litres of ethanol for this season, which is lower than the factories' production capacity. They have also demanded the introduction of a dual-pricing mechanism for sugar, which allows higher prices for sugar procured for commercial uses such as manufacturing chocolates, sweets and soft drinks. Fadnavis's delegation included deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, along with state marketing minister Jaykumar Rawal, cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil and other leaders associated with the sugar cooperative sector. After the meeting in New Delhi, Fadnavis spoke about Shah's concerns over the falling onion prices and measures to support the sugar industry. "The Union minister has assured a procurement of 10 lakh tonne of onions from farmers. Although the state has already increased the procurement price to Rs.15.80 per kg to ensure farmers receive fair compensation, we have requested a further increase," Fadnavis said. He added that since onion seeds are exported on a large scale, domestic onion exports often suffer due to limited market viability. "We have requested the Centre to impose an export surcharge on onion seeds so that onion farmers receive better prices. To curb manipulation by traders, who allegedly exploit farmers during quality assessment, the Centre has assured us that a fair grading mechanism will be developed," he said. The chief minister said the state had requested the Centre to ensure that procurement by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India be carried out directly from farmers, eliminating intermediaries. "The Union minister has also asked us to submit a formal proposal to introduce a dual-pricing policy to procure sugar. Decision on all the issues discussed are likely in the next 10 days," he added. Harshavardhan Patil, president of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, said: "We have sought an increase in sugar MSP to Rs.43 per kg from the existing Rs.31 due to rising production costs and higher fair and remunerative prices paid to farmers. Shah has assured us that ethanol allocation to sugar factories will be increased substantially." Patil said sugar factories currently have outstanding short- and long-term loans amounting to Rs.1,050 crore, with accumulated interest liabilities of around Rs.1,500 crore. "We have sought restructuring of these loans as factories are struggling to repay debt incurred for expansion and working capital. Shah has responded positively to our request," he said....