Government mulls removing export duty on sugar

New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) The government is mulling the removal of export duty on sugar as domestic prices have fallen in anticipation of rise in production this year, Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.

"We are considering it," Paswan told reporters here.

Currently, the export duty on sugar is 20 per cent.

According to the government data, sugar production in 2017-18, starting October, would be around 24.9 million tonnes while the industry has estimated it to be around 26-27 million tonnes.

The government has already doubled import duty to 100 per cent in order to check cheaper imports from other sugar-producing countries.

An official said there were many demands from the sugar industry including one about scrapping export duty.

"We have already done the import duty part. We have put the stock restriction mechanism in place. We are considering the scrapping of export duty. But we cannot say when it will be done," he said.

Prices of sugar in the retail markets in major cities have shown a dip of Rs 1-4 in last one month while the rates have slumped by up to Rs 9 in some cities in the northeastern states, according to government data.