Govt fixing sugar release quota for mills to arrest falling prices

Move comes days after govt doubled import duty on sugar to 100%, from existing 50% to check cheap imports from Pakistan

The Centre is looking to cap the amount of sugar mills can sell in the open market. This is to prevent sugar prices from falling sharply, which, in turn, would help mills in making sugarcane payments quicker to farmers.

“There was a stockholding limit on sugar mills, which has been reworked,” a senior government official said. 

Sources said new orders on this would be issued soon. According to them, mills have to hold at the end of February 83 per cent of the sugar stock with them on January 31, and at the end of March, the sugar stock with them will