Food Ministry proposes 25% duty on sugar export

Food Ministry has proposed to impose 25 per cent duty on export of sugar to ensure sufficient supply in the domestic market.

In a series of tweet, Food and Consumer affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the international prices of sugar are rising and therefore traders may increase the export of sugar to make profit. He said, the Ministry has proposed to levy 25 per cent custom duty on export of sugar to keep the export of the sweetener in control.

style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Mr Paswan said, this move will keep sufficient availability of sugar in domestic market and the price will be under control. According to trade sources, sugar exports have become viable now as global prices have increased by 50 per cent in last three months due to disruption in supply from Brazil. The country had exported 14 lakh tonnes of sugar so far in the 2015-16.

Retail sugar prices had crossed 40 rupees per kg last month due to eleven per cent fall in domestic sugar output in the ongoing 2015-16 season.