The government is keeping a close watch on sugar sales by millers in the open market. It has also warned millers against failure to sell the entire quota allocated to them for the October-November period. This step taken by the government is in order to check the rise in sugar prices during the festival season. The warning comes in the backdrop of an impression created by some circles that sugar released by the government for sale in the open market for October and November would get extended suo motu.
The government has also advised the sugar mills not to act on presumptions. In case if they are found to restrain the sale and delivery of non-levy sugar released for sale in the market during October-November, then the government will immediately convert the unsold and undelivered quantity of non-levy stock into levy stock.
Right from the production to distribution the government controls the sugar sector. The food ministry fixes the quantity of sugar that mills would sell every month in the open market. Besides, the ministry has allocated a total 40 lakh tonnes of non-levy sugar for October - November period to 380 odd millers for sale in the open market.
In the 2011-12 marketing year (October-September) period, the sugar production in the country stood at 26 million tonnes higher than the annual demand of 22 million tonnes.