Centre slashes customs duty on sugar export

The Union government on Wednesday announced a reduction in the customs duty to be levied on the export of sugar.

According to an official release, the export duty is being reduced to nil from its current 20 percent.

During the current sugar season 2017-18, the sugar production in the country is estimated to be substantially higher than the estimated domestic consumption. Sufficient surplus stock of sugar may be available for export. Therefore, in order to promote exports with the objective of evacuating surplus stocks from the country, the government decided to remove customs duty on export of sugar.

Furthermore, the Centre stated that the proposed reduction of customs duty will help in maintaining demand and supply balance, and thereby stabilising domestic sugar prices in the country.