Govt seizes 4.3 lakh quintals of sugar from hoarders

The government today said it has seized 4.30 lakh quintals of sugar from hoarders in four states this year. In an attempt to curb the rise in prices, the government had imposed in March stock holding and turnover limits on all sugar dealers. It had also restrained bulk consumers from holding sugar stock beyond 15 days of their requirement.

The Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas in a reply to Rajya Sabha said about 2.65 lakh tonnes of sugar from Maharashtra, 1.53 lakh quintals from Punjab, 7,418 quintals from Rajasthan and 3,399 quintals from Andhra Pradesh had been seized. The minister said information about the confiscated sugar is available from Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Besides imposing stock limit to moderate prices of sugar, the government has allowed import of sugar and enhanced the levy sugar obligation on sugar mills from 10 per cent to 20 per cent of production with effect from the 2009-10 season, the minister said in a separate reply.

"The sugar production fall in the 2008-09 sugar season and anticipated lower output in the 2009-10 season has led to the escalation in sugar prices," Thomas said.

Sugar production is estimated to have declined to 14.7 million tonnes in the 2008-09 season from 26.3 million tonnes in the last season. The sugar season runs from October to September.