New Delhi, July 27 (PTI) The Centre has extended beyond
August 1 the import facility for raw sugar at zero duty
without any export obligation and that of white sugar through
state-owned trading firms to augment domestic supply.
"The government has extended the import of duty-free raw
sugar (under open general licence) as well as that of white
sugar through three PSUs beyond their deadline of August 1,"
an official source said, declining, however, to comment on how
long the relaxation will stay.
The decision, approved by the Cabinet in its meeting last
week, is likely to be announced by Food and Agriculture
Minister Sharad Pawar in Parliament tomorrow, he added.
The move has come amid growing apprehension about the
fate of sugar production next season, starting October,
following a decline in the area under sugarcane to 42.50
lakh hectares as on July 17 from 43.79 lakh hectares in the
same period last year.
Earlier in April, the government had scrapped a 60 per
cent import duty on raw sugar and allowed duty-free import
till August 1 under the open general licence (OGL) scheme,
under which mills do not have any export obligation.
It had also allowed MMTC, STC and PEC to import refined
sugar up to 10 lakh tonnes at zero duty till August 1.
India has imported raw sugar of 16.81 lakh tonnes so far,
while another 1.65 lakh tonnes are expected to reach by the
end of this month, industry sources said, adding that about 29
lakh tonnes have been contracted so far.
Similarly, the PSUs have contracted 1.15 lakh tonnes of
refined sugar so far, out of which 43,550 tonnes have already
arrived, the sources said. A total of 79,605 tonnes may land
in India by the end of this month, they added.
These steps by the government had followed projections of
a slump in the country's sugar production to 155 lakh tonnes
for this season (October-September) from about 264 lakh tonnes
in 2007-08.
The country, which is the largest consumer of sugar in
the world, needs about 225 lakh tonnes of the sweetener for
its annual domestic consumption.
The lower output has resulted in a higher price of sugar,
which is currently selling at Rs 27-30 a kg in retail markets,
compared with Rs 16-17 a kg a year before. PTI
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