Centre to consult states on sugar decontrol after Par session

Government today said it will start the consultation process with states on the issue of decontrolling the sugar sector after the current Parliament session.
"When the Parliament session will be over, it (consultation with states) will start," Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on the sidelines of an event here.The discussion will be held with sugar producing states alone.

"There is no need to talk with all states. Only Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh -- it has to be discussed with these states," he said.

The Parliament''s winter session, which will end on November 13, has remained paralysed for last three weeks over the issue of demand for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into 2G spectrum scam.

In September, Pawar had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and made a presentation about his proposal to decontrol the industry.He had also said time was "right" for the government to consider relinquishing control on the sugar sector, but that government would assess production estimates in the 2010-11 crop year before deciding on decontrol.

The proposal to decontrol the sugar industry comes in the backdrop of expectations of higher production of 24.5 million tonnes in the sugar year 2010-11 (October-September).At present, the Indian sugar sector is under government control from the level of production to distribution.

The Food Ministry fixes the monthly quota that the sugar mills can sell in the open market, as well as through ration shops.Mills are required to sell 20 per cent of their output to the government for distribution through ration shops.Even the procurement price of the sugarcane is fixed by the Centre and state governments.

On the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act, Pawar said around 18 states have amended the act.

The APMC Act currently restricts private firms to integrate their enterprises directly with farmers due to presence of middlemen.The minister said that he would call a meeting possibly next month to take a corrective action on this matter so that farmers are not deprived of higher price for their produce.

source: msn