15% import duty on sugar still in vogue: Govt

In August last year it was raised from 10%

The import duty on sugar is 15% and prices of the sweetener are stable at present in the domestic market, Parliament was informed today.

"The current rate of import duty on sugar is 15%," Minister of State for food Raosabeb Patil Danve said in a written statement to the Rajya Sabha.

Domestic sugar prices at present are stable, he added.

He was replying to a question whether the government has raised import duty on sugar from 15% to 40% and its impact on sugar prices.

The minister said that the import duty of 15% on sugar is still in vogue. It was last raised in August last year from 10%.

Last month at a high-level meeting, the government had decided to hike the import duty on the sweetener to 40% as part of various measures for improving liquidity of cash-starved sugar mills to enable them clear cane arrears.

Till June, sugar arrears stood at Rs 11,524 crore.

Earlier this year, the government had announced interest -free loan worth Rs 6,600 crore to sugar mills to pay dues to growers.

The sugar industry has been facing a cash crunch due to higher cost of production and lower selling prices in the wake of surplus output over the past few years.

The country's sugar production is expected to 24.3 million tonnes in 2013-14, as against 25.1 million tonnes in the last year.