The Union Food Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, on Thursday said that sugarcane arrears to be paid to cane farmers have reduced and that no call has been taken on the extension of sugar export subsidy for the 2014-15 season.
“Our latest findings indicate that arrears are being paid and have fallen. The Centre will not be interfering in the process, we will keep taking the reports,” Paswan said on the sidelines of an event commemorating the foundation day of the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).
A Ministry note on the status of cane arrears read that Rs 4,288 crore were owed to cane farmers as of November 15. Mill owners in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the country’s second largest sugar producing state, had an outstanding amount of Rs 1,676 crore which works out to 8.64 per cent of the total cane dues of Rs 19,388.04 crore.
The arrears figure for Karnataka stood at Rs 1,802.86 crore, which is 19.28 per cent of a total of Rs 9,349.71 crore that is to be paid.
“We have come to a level where from Rs 15,000 crore owed at one point, it has come down roughly to Rs 4,000 crore. The Government is hopeful and we appeal to mill owners to provide relief to the farmers by paying the arrears,” added the Minister.
Export subsidy
The extension of subsidy on raw sugar was supposed to have been reviewed in September. The scheme, which provides a subsidy of Rs 3,300/tonne for exports up to 40 lakh tonnes (lt) and was subsequently revised to Rs 3,371/tonne in August, had been announced in February to provide relief to the sugar industry in the face of surplus production and weak global prices.
India exported 12.12 lt of raw sugar in the 2013-14 season.
“Whatever plan was in place earlier that is ongoing. There have been no further discussions on the matter,” said Paswan, adding that an incentive could be provided for conversion of cane juice into ethanol.
Sugar output
'The Government estimates the total sugar output at 250.5 lt for the 2014-15 season, roughly similar to the industry estimates of 250-255 lt. Domestic requirements are pegged at 247 lt. The opening stock for the new sugar season, which began on October 1, stood at 75 lt.
A recent Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) report stated that India’s sugar output had already increased by 22 per cent this season compared to the same period last season from 4.62 lt to 5.6 lt.