Sugarcane prices: PM holds emergency meeting

Faced with a protest by farmers and almost all opposition parties over sugarcane pricing, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday held an emergency meeting on the issue with senior cabinet colleagues.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Home Minister P. Chidambaram attended the meeting at Parliament House.

Asked about the decision taken at the meeting, the ministers did not disclose anything. However, sources said: “The decision taken at the meeting will be placed before the cabinet today (Thursday).” The cabinet meeting will take place at 5 pm here.  Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi also met Manmohan Singh separately over sugarcane pricing and the Bundelkhand package issue.