Govt contemplating partial decontrol of sugar industry: Food Minister

22 Dec 2011 Evaluate

Government is mulling over the idea of doing away with some restrictions on the sugar industry, which faces too many controls and obligations that adversely affect the interests of the industry as well as farming community. Minister of Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution K V Thomas has said that the government is contemplating demands for partial decontrol of the sector and the issue is being discussed at the highest level.

The food minister assured that he would take up the issue with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar once the Parliament’s winter session concludes and will formulate a mechanism for de-controlling the sugar industry. On the issue of further export of sugar, the food minister said that the government would consider further exports of the sweetener at an appropriate time, which would be favorable for the industry.

The partial removal of restrictions on the sugar industry is essential to boost the industry’s competitiveness. Presently sugar industry has to abide by various regulations of the government like the compulsion to supply 26 lakh tonnes of sugar for the public distribution system at a discounted rate which causes losses of around Rs 3,000 crore to the industry every year. Also, under the monthly regulated release mechanism, each sugar mill is directed by the government to sell a certain quantity of the commodity every month. 

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