16 OCT, 2012, ET BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Days after the Rangarajan committee's recommendation to free export and import of sugar, the government seems to accede to its suggestion. Food minister KV Thomas said that the government will continue free export sugar policy in the current 2012-13 sugar marketing year that started this month.
"We have decided to extend the time for sugar export under open general licence for another year," Thomas told reporters after discussing the Rangarajan committee's recommendations on sugar sector in a meeting with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
The decision will be effective once the food ministry issues formal notification in this regard.
"It means that like wheat and rice, there would be no quantitative restriction on sugar export as well. Mills won't have to take any permission from the government to export sugar and can ship as much as they want," said a food ministry official.
This year the country so far has exported around 3.5 million tonne sugar, 10 million tonne of rice, 2.5 million tonne wheat and 40 lakh bales of cotton after record production. The decision has come at a time when the country is again likely to have a surplus production of sugar after last year's record production of over 26 million tonne.
"We expect to have a production between 23 and 24 million tonne as against the domestic consumption of 22 million tonne keeping the doors of export open," Thomas said. Meanwhile, food minister also said that the government will take a time-bound decision on the Rangarajan committee's recommendations.
"Its report will not be put on backburner. It will not meet the fate of earlier reports. A time-bound decision will be taken after receiving views from the PMO," he said. The committee, set up by the prime minister in January this year with the chairman of his economic advisor C Rangarajan as its chief, released a report last week recommending scrapping of major government controls on the sugar sector to move towards the reform process.
It has also recommended doing away with government control over sugar distributed through ration shops and release order. The panel has suggested that state governments should buy sugar from the open market to supply to ration shops through instead of asking mills to sell 10% of their production at a loss to the government and then extend subsidy as per their financial strength.
"The central government would continue to incur Rs 3,000 crore annual subsidy in selling sugar through the ration shops," the panel says.
NEW DELHI: Days after the Rangarajan committee's recommendation to free export and import of sugar, the government seems to accede to its suggestion. Food minister KV Thomas said that the government will continue free export sugar policy in the current 2012-13 sugar marketing year that started this month.
"We have decided to extend the time for sugar export under open general licence for another year," Thomas told reporters after discussing the Rangarajan committee's recommendations on sugar sector in a meeting with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
The decision will be effective once the food ministry issues formal notification in this regard.
"It means that like wheat and rice, there would be no quantitative restriction on sugar export as well. Mills won't have to take any permission from the government to export sugar and can ship as much as they want," said a food ministry official.
This year the country so far has exported around 3.5 million tonne sugar, 10 million tonne of rice, 2.5 million tonne wheat and 40 lakh bales of cotton after record production. The decision has come at a time when the country is again likely to have a surplus production of sugar after last year's record production of over 26 million tonne.
"We expect to have a production between 23 and 24 million tonne as against the domestic consumption of 22 million tonne keeping the doors of export open," Thomas said. Meanwhile, food minister also said that the government will take a time-bound decision on the Rangarajan committee's recommendations.
"Its report will not be put on backburner. It will not meet the fate of earlier reports. A time-bound decision will be taken after receiving views from the PMO," he said. The committee, set up by the prime minister in January this year with the chairman of his economic advisor C Rangarajan as its chief, released a report last week recommending scrapping of major government controls on the sugar sector to move towards the reform process.
It has also recommended doing away with government control over sugar distributed through ration shops and release order. The panel has suggested that state governments should buy sugar from the open market to supply to ration shops through instead of asking mills to sell 10% of their production at a loss to the government and then extend subsidy as per their financial strength.
"The central government would continue to incur Rs 3,000 crore annual subsidy in selling sugar through the ration shops," the panel says.
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