The Food Ministry has written to the Railway Board chairman to make available rakes on priority basis to sugar mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka as lack of adequate wagons had impacted the domestic dispatch and exports of the sweetener from the region.

Mills in Maharashtra and north Karnataka have been facing difficulties in moving the sugar to the consuming centres across the country, while exports have also taken a hit due to logistic issues.

In a letter to Railway Board chairman, the Food Ministry said that the lifting of sugar from the mills is getting affected.

Also, considering the difficulties faced by the mills in selling the sugar due to logistics issues, the Food Ministry recently extended the time period for the monthly sale quota for December 2021 by one month till January 31, 2022. This is expected to help facilitate the dispatch of the remaining unsold quantity of December quota thereby improving the liquidity of sugar mills enabling them to clear the cane price dues.

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association, the production of the sweetener in the first three months of the current 2021-22 season was up 4.34 per cent at 115.55 lakh tonnes (lt) as of December-end over same period last year’s 110.74 lt. In Maharasthra, the production was up 15 per cent at 45.77 lakh tonnes till December end over last year, while in the same period the output was six per cent more in Karnataka at 25.65 lakh tonnes.

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