Government will consider extending subsidy on exports of raw sugar after assessing the production estimates for the current 2014-15 marketing year and sugarcane arrears to farmers, a top food ministry official said on Monday. Sugar marketing year runs from October-September.

“We will apply our mind after we assess in totality the sugar production and cane arrears situation. We will get to know the details in a cane commissioners meeting to be held on October 29. The issue is open. We will consider after studying the situation,” Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar told PTI when asked about extending the export subsidy in 2014-15.

The subsidy scheme, which was announced by the then UPA government in February this year, ended in September.

The Centre had in February announced a subsidy for export of raw sugar up to 4 million tonnes during 2013-14 and 2014-15 marketing years (October-September) in order to help the cash-starved industry to clear arrears to sugarcane farmers.

It had fixed the subsidy at Rs 3,300 per tonne for February-March and decided to review it every two months.

The incentive was reduced to Rs 2,277 per tonne for April-May and the same was reinstated at Rs 3,300 per tonne by the new Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. For August-September, the subsidy was Rs 3,371 per tonne.

The new government is yet to decide whether to continue the export subsidy in the current marketing year amid fall in global prices making the exports unviable.

Recently, Paswan had told PTI in an interview that “the government is open to extending export subsidy on raw sugar”.

Under the export incentive scheme, India had exported 7 lakh tonnes of raw sugar in 2013-14 marketing year that ended last month.

Sugar production of India, the world’s second largest producer, is estimated at 25-25.5 million tonnes this marketing year as against the annual domestic demand of 24 million tonnes.

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