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The Government on Tuesday placed stock limits on sugar mills in an effort to check spiralling of sugar prices during the upcoming festive season.
Sugar mills in the country cannot hold more than 21 per cent of the total output of the current 2016-17 season in stock during September and this needs to be brought down to 8 per cent by the end of October, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Twitter.
The move is an attempt by the Government to restrain sugar mills from hoarding and pushing up prices when the demand spikes during the festival period.
However, Paswan said, there was no shortage of sugar for domestic consumption. Monthly demand for sugar in the country is estimated to be 2 to 2.25 MT and the demand peaks during festival months.
About two weeks ago, the Minister was quoted as saying that there was a total sugar supply of about 27.9 million tonnes (MT) in the current 2016-17 season (October-September) despite a 20 per cent slump in production. The total quantum includes current year’s production of 20.4 MT, an old stock of 7 MT and import of 5 lakh tonnes.
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