Industry hails panel report on sugar decontrol

Says suggestions if adopted by the Centre would help the industry in achieving faster growth and attracting investments

Hailing the recommendation by the Rangarajan Committee to decontrol the sugar industry, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) today said the suggestions if adopted by the Centre would help the industry in achieving faster growth and attracting investments.

The Rangarajan Committee today recommended deregulation of the sugar sector by giving freedom to mills to sell sugar in the open market.

"It's a very positive report. Industry welcomes it. If government accepts the report, the sector will grow at a faster pace and there will be lot of investment at all levels including farmgate," ISMA Director General Abinash Verma told PTI when asked about his comments on the report.

Verma said the decontrol of the sector would be in the interest of all stakeholders, including farmers, millers and consumers.

The industry has been for a long time demanding the government to do away with regulated release mechanism and levy sugar obligations.

Under regulated release mechanism, the Centre fixes the quantity of sugar that mills can sell in the open market and ration shops.

The levy sugar system, on the other hand, stipulates the mills to sell 10% of their production to the government at below market price for ration shops.

"The sugar decontrol will lead to a stable and predictable environment," Verma said.