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The Centre has allocated 22 lakh tonnes (lt) as the monthly sugar quota for sales in domestic market during April, which is same as last month.
However, considering the deduction made for some mills which defaulted in submitting the opening stock verification report in current season, the actual allocation stands at 21.79 lt, which is 0.4 per cent higher from the previous month’s actual quota.
In a notification issued by the Directorate of Sugar, the allocated quota has been distributed among 525 sugar mills across the country based on the sales performance in February as reported by these factories.
Adhering to guidelines
“Almost all sugar mills have complied with the guideline of filing monthly balance sheet as 490 of them have filed on National Single Window System (NSWS) portal and the remaining have filed on the other website used earlier. As many as 40 mills who were used to submit the sugar data regarding production and despatch either through email or physical copies have now complied the guideline,” said a senior government official.
Also read: Sugar production dips 14% in the past month as 131 mills in Maharashtra, Karnataka end operations
The government has said that those mills who default in filing the monthly update online by 25 of every month will not be allocated domestic sugar quota for next month. “Now the government has created a database of actual sugar production in the country with a time lag of 25 days,” the official added.
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have seen a significant increase in allocation for April from the March quota while Bihar has bee allocated lower, according to All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA).
Prices may rise
The prices may be firm going forward and mills may recover whatever losses they have incurred in last six months (October-March) of current sugar season, said Praful Jagjivandas Vithalani, Chairman of AISTA. He said the allocation for April is sufficient to meet the demand for the month.
Vithalani also said the closing ex-mill price of sugar in Maharashtra was ₹3,210-3,250/quintal and in Karnataka ₹3,190-3,230 in March, whereas in Uttar Pradesh and other places it was higher by ₹250-300/quintal.
With the aim of ensuring supplies, the monthly domestic sugar release quota is evenly distributed among mills across the country. The Food Ministry, from January,has been implementing the formula based on the month-end notional stock of the preceding month and sugar diverted for ethanol will for allocation of the maximum quantity of white/refined sugar to each factory. The government also provides incentive in lieu of sugar sacrificed for producing ethanol in allocation of domestic quota.
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