The government has doubled import duty on sugar to 100% and raised duty on chana to 40%. The customs duty or import tax presently on sugar is 50% and that on chana (chickpeas) is 30%. This step has been taken to curb cheaper imports and ensure remunerative prices to domestic growers. The higher tax has been imposed with immediate effect and without an end date.
The sugar production estimate has been revised upward by 4% to 26.1 million tonnes (MT) in the current 2017-18 marketing year (October-September) as against 20.3 MT in 2016 -17. The consumption is pegged at 25 MT for this year.
The import duty on chana has been raised to 40% as government wants to contain inward shipments in view of record production of pulses to nearly 23 MT this year.