Cabinet approves building 3 million tonne government stockpile of sugar: Ram Vilas Paswan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has decided to build a 3 million tonne stockpile of sugar to soak up excess supply from the domestic market, and grant soft loans worth 44.4 billion rupees ($661.40 million) to help millers expand ethanol output capacity, the food minister said.

The government has also fixed a floor price of 29 rupees a kilogram to ensure that retail rates of sugar do not fall further, Ram Vilas Paswan told a news conference after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Paswan on Tuesday said the government would announce support measures to cut a growing sugar surplus and prop up local prices, a move aimed at helping loss-making mills and millions of cane growers who make up a key voting bloc.

 

($1 = 67.13 rupees)

(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Alex Richardson)