Sugar prices decline as govt looks to crack down on mills for arrears

Pace of price slide has increased, they aver, deepening their inability to pay; asking for govt help, including floor price for their sales

The central government's threat of strong action against sugar mills for mounting arrears of payment to cane farmers has come along with a sustained fall in the price of sugar.

Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said he wrote last week to the governments of all major sugar producing states to take action in this regard. In the same period, both wholesale and factory-gate sugar prices have fallen by Re 1-1.5 a kg across the country. Mills protest that they are selling their produce at Rs 26 a kg, nearly Rs 5-6 a kg lower than at the start of