Comments
The government is likely to raise import duty on sugar to 40 per cent from the current 25 per cent to check sliding price of the sweetener and enable mills to clear mounting cane arrears of about ₹20,000 crore.
A meeting of informal group of ministers, headed by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, today decided to recommend a hike in import duty of sugar.
A consensus also emerged on the issue of creating buffer stock, restructuring of loan, promotion of ethanol output, export subsidy on white sugar among others to help solve the current crisis faced by farmers and millers.
“We discussed the suggestions made by farmers and state governments for early clearance of cane dues. Looking at the plight of farmers and unprecedented situation which sugar industry is facing, we have arrived at a consensus on couple of them to help in solving the problems in short term as well as long term,” Paswan told PTI after the meeting.
To implement some of the suggestions, the Cabinet proposals will be moved, while import duty can be hiked by the Finance Ministry through an executive order, sources said.
In August last year, import duty on both raw and refined sugar was raised to 25 per cent from 15 per cent to bail out the cash-starved sugar industry.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.