CII welcomes the Government subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore on exports of 60 lakh tons of sugar. This decision is expected to benefit 50million+ sugarcane farmer families, as well as the five lakh workers employed in the sugar mills and related ancillary activities.
“We believe that the timing of exports is opportune because world prices have moved up recently due to a lower crop in Thailand, EU, and relatively tight supply conditions in Brazil. Past experiences also show that primary beneficiaries of such a policy are the 50 million+ farmer families”. Tarun Sawhney, Chairman, CII Task Force on Sugar.
CII had already submitted that India can export a large quantity at potentially a lower subsidy as compared to last year keeping in view the favorable international prices. The CCEA has approved the subsidy at the rate of Rs 6 per kg for the current year, much lower than about Rs 10.50 per kg in the 2019-20 marketing year.
Exports have increased in 2019/20 Sugar season due to opening up of Indonesian market for the first time and Malaysian market after a long time. The traditional markets like East Africa, Bangladesh and Middle East also reacted positively during Covid pandemic. Apart from that, Iran also imported Sugar in large quantities. Also, the export incentives helped increase sugar exports in the season ending Sept. 2020 and given the timely support in the current season the robust performance is expected to continue.
Cane dues to be paid by sugar mills to farmers reached over Rs 17,000 crore in the 2019-20 sugar season owing to surplus production. With the assistance directly credited into farmers' account a clear and transparent mechanism will be established.
The Sugar Industry is continuously working towards efficiency and innovation. As a result of concentrated efforts, area under sugarcane has grown, the increase in yields has more than doubled farm incomes and consequently, the quantum of sugarcane available across the country, despite weather anomalies, has stabilized at higher level leading to continuous annual production in excess of consumption.
Going forward the industry also requests the Government to look implementing the revenue sharing formula to help industry be globally competitive.
17 December 2020