Sugar mills told to clear old stocks

NEW DELHI: The government is pressing sugar mills to get rid of old stocks and accommodate new supplies, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Thursday while assuring ample availability following huge reserves. ���Forget about what the production will be. I have ample stocks. In fact I am pressing the sugar mills to dispose of the stocks as soon as possible. There is no space to keep new sugar,��� he said.

Replying to a query on the possible sugar output, the minister said, ���This year don���t worry about availability.���Sugar production touched about 265 lakh tonne in the 2007-08 sugar season ending September. Though in the current season sugar output is estimated to decline to 220 lakh tonne, the government has 110 lakh tonne in the opening stocks this year.

Mr Pawar also noted that sugarcane supply will exceed demand this year. ���The problem with sugarcane is that last year���s stocks have not been disposed of. That���s why the availability is more than the requirement,��� he said. The minister also ruled out the Centre���s intervention in state advised prices (SAP) of sugarcane despite enormous variations, saying the Centre can only announce a statutory minimum price (SMP).

SMP is the minimum price fixed by the Centre that a miller has to offer to farmers for sugarcane while SAP is determined by states keeping SMP in view. The Centre has fixed the SMP of sugarcane at Rs 81.18 per quintal while Uttar Pradesh, the second-largest sugar producer, had last month raised the SAP to Rs 140 a quintal for the common variety from Rs 125.