The Cabinet announced a relief package for sugar mills. It also decided to compensate the Food Corporation of India and State governments for procuring wheat with high moisture. In a move that will help cash-starved domestic sugar mills, the Centre has decided to increase the import duty on sugar to 40 per cent from 25.
Additionally, the Cabinet also removed the 12.36 per cent excise duty on ethanol supplied for blending for the 2015-16 season (October-September) to pass on price benefits to mills, which collectively owe ₹21,000 crore to sugarcane farmers.
The government expects these measures to help mill owners generate enough cash to pay dues to farmers. “The ‘Duty Free Import Authorisation’ (DFIA) scheme for sugar would be withdrawn…similarly the period for discharging Export Obligations under the Advanced Authorisation scheme would be reduced to six months so as to prevent any possibility of any leakage into the domestic market,” an official statement added.
Corruption Act The Cabinet has also given its nod for official amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act that proposes a change in the system to initiate action against retired bureaucrats for decisions taken during their tenure. It also envisages that acts of corruption will be at par with a heinous crime.
The Bill to amend the Act was tabled by the UPA government and is pending in the Rajya Sabha. To fast-track the process by which certain class of companies could be exempted from any of the provisions of the New Company Law, the Cabinet approved an amendment to the existing Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014.