Govt fixes higher sugar sale quota of 49.64 LT for July-Sept

New Delhi: Government has allocated more quantity of sugar at 49.64 lakh tonnes for sale through ration shops and open market during the July-September quarter compared to that in the previous quarter.

As much as 48.82 lakh tonnes of the sweetener was allocated for sale for the April-June period.

Sugar sales are regulated by the Food Ministry. In view of higher domestic output, the government recently started allocating sugar on quarterly basis instead of monthly basis from April onward.

Of the 49.64 lakh tonnes, sugar mills are allowed to sell 45 lakh tonnes in the open market and the rest 4.64 lakh tones through ration shops, an official release said.

The ministry said sugar allocation has been made with the condition that "the sugar mills should sell not less than 25 percent of the quarterly quota in each month of the quarter."

The remaining 25 percent can be sold at any time during the quarter as per their commercial prudence, it said.

The government has decided to allocate sugar on quarterly basis due to surplus domestic production in the 2011-12 marketing year and stable retail prices of the sweetener.

In the 2011-12 marketing year (October-September), sugar production is estimated to be 26 million tonnes, against the annual demand of 22 million tonnes, prompting the government to allow three million tonnes of exports.

Industry bodies Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) have been demanding decontrol of the sector, which includes doing away with monthly release mechanism and levy obligation for ration shops.

source: zeenews