No relief for sugar mills

Rejecting sugar mill owners’ demands that the quota of sugar to be exported be relaxed in view of the reduction in sugarcane crops, the state government on Monday warned sugar millers that stern action would be taken against them if they failed to export the mandatory amount.

“Sugar mills will have to export their quota for the industry to survive. They won’t be able to sustain current prices if they avoid exporting sugar. The dead stocks might also adversely affect sugar prices,” chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said as he urged the sugar mills to complete their export targets.

He was addressing a meeting of cooperative sugar mill owners at Y.B. Chavan Centre on Monday.

The meeting was attended by former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, minister for cooperatives Chandrakant Patil, rural development minister Pankaja Munde, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil along with other senior political and industry leaders.

Meanwhile, Mr Patil, the decision would increase the price of sugar nominally by Rs 2 to Rs 3 per kilogramme, and this would help sugar producers and farmers. “This nominal increase in sugar prices too would help the farmers in a big way. The upward spiral of sugar prices is expected to begin with this decision, as this year sugar production reduced by around 25 per cent and next year it is likely to be half compared to previous year,” the minister added.

The Union government had last week made it mandatory for mills, both private and co-operative, to export four million tonnes of sugar in the 2015-16 season (October-September) in order to sell surplus stocks in the global market and improve cash flow of the millers for making sugarcane payment to farmers. India has surplus sugar stock on account of bumper production in last five years, depressing local prices.