Policy change can reduce sugar prices, says Maha Cong leader

Soaring sugar prices can be controlled by asking bulk consumers of branded food items not to use domestic sugar and go in for imported sweetener, a senior Congress leader suggested today.

"The current price of Rs 50 per kg can go below Rs 40 and an additional 40 lakh MT sugar will be available for the open market due to the policy change," said MPCC spokesperson Kanhaiyalal Gidwani.

Branded-item bulk consumers should be asked to use only imported sugar and in three months, they should not be allowed to hold sugar produced locally, else action under Essential Commodities Act be initiated against them, he said.

"I have written to Prime Minister and had a detailed discussion with Sharad Pawar on the issue," Gidwani told PTI.

The Government has to make a change in its sugar control policy, restricting the branded-item bulk consumer from using domestic sugar, Gidwani said.

Items like soft drinks, fruit juice (which have added sugar), chocolates, alcohol and ice creams, are luxury items and consumed only by the upper and middle class, he said. "These are not an essential commodity," he added.

About 20 per cent of the total sugar consumption is used for making these food items, he said.

If they are restricted from using domestically-produced sugar and made to import what they require, it will make available the extra quantity of sugar in the open market, thereby bringing the prices down, he added.