Cabinet extends turnover, stock limits on sugar

The Union Cabinet today extended the stock and turnover limits on sugar by six months to prevent hoarding and price rise.

The limits were imposed on March 9 for a four-month period. The limits would now remain in place till January 8, 2010.

“This is expected to help in the efforts being taken to tackle the problem of rising sugar prices and also improve the availability of sugar,” said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Under the stock limit norms, traders in the country (except Kolkata) are allowed to hold up to 200 tonnes of sugar in a month. Traders in Kolkata and adjoining areas, who purchase sugar from states other than West Bengal and supply to the North-Eastern states, are allowed to stock up to 1,000 tonnes in a month.

Chidambaram said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the cabinet secretary to ensure that states implemented the stock limits.

So far, only four to five states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka, had implemented the stock limits.

The country’s output in the current season is at a three-year low of 14.7 million tonne and down about 44 per cent from the previous season.

Consequently, prices have jumped by over 50 per cent since October last year. Currently, retail sugar is selling at Rs 28-29 a kg.

MSP FOR JUTE INCREASED BY 10 PER CENT:
The government today increased the minimum support price (MSP) of jute by 10 per cent to Rs 1,375 per quintal for 2009-10.

“The increase in the MSP is expected to encourage the farmers to step up investment in jute cultivation...,” said P Chidambaram.

The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) would continue to act as the nodal agency to undertake price support operations and the losses, if any, will be fully reimbursed by the government.

Jute production is estimated at 95.31 lakh bales during the 2008-09 season, compared with 102.21 lakh bales in the previous season. One bale is 180 kg. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are the country’s top jute producing states.