Sugar factories organization Isma on Monday called on the government to again raise the minimum selling price of sugar. Isma said it would help farmers pay sugar cane dues to sugar factories. The agency said the price of sugar was relatively low and thereby increased the mills’ cash problem. According to government statistics, the cane balance of 2020-21 marketing in February (October-September) was Rs 22,900 crore, as against Rs 19,200 crore in 2019-20.
The minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar was last fixed in February 2019. However, NITI Aayog’s work force on the sugarcane and sugar industry is priced at Rs 2 per kg. The MSP of sugar is fixed by taking into account the fair and remunerative price (FRP) components and the minimum conversion cost of the most efficient mills.
The former mill price of sugar is Rs 31-33 per kg
In a statement, the Indian Sugar Factory Association (ISMA) said: “For the past several months, there has been pressure on mills to sell sugar at such low prices to maintain a cash level of Rs 31-33 per kg over the past several months. FRP) cannot create such a cube to pay.
In June last year, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the government was considering a proposal to increase the sugar MSP from its current level. However, no formal formal announcement has been made yet. Isma said that the government is expected to make a long-awaited announcement regarding the increase in sugar MSP in sugar mills and sugar factories to improve revenues of sugar mills and pay the farmers.
Until April, the domestic market sold 52.6 lakh tonnes of sugar
“Under current conditions, raising the existing sugar level in MSP to Rs 31 per kg … seems to be the only real way for sugar factories to improve their cash flow conditions and ensure that farmers’ sugarcane prices are balanced. It said sugar factories sold 52.6 lakh tonnes of sugar in the domestic market till October (September-September), but the government had allocated 14.47 million tonnes.
Also Read: Buy cheap gold from Modi government till 21st May know at what price and how much to buy
In terms of exports, the sugar factories have so far contracted to export 57 lakh tonnes of sugar, which is 95 per cent of the government’s export target of 6 million tonnes for the current season. Of this, 37 lakh tonnes of sugar was physically exported from the country during the current January-April period.
It is reported that 7-8 lakh tonnes of sugar is in the process of being exported physically this month. With regard to sugar production, Isma said that sugar factories around the country have begun the 2020-21 market season. As of May 15, 3.6 million tonnes of sugar was produced, up 14.43 percent from two billion 65.3 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago.
