No hike in import duty on Sugar

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said it has decided not to increase import duty on sugar though industry bodies and manufacturers had demanded a hike to curb shipment of the sweetener.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance SS Palanimanickam said representations received from industry associations and sugar companies were examined.

"...after taking into account relevant factors like international prices, domestic prices, import volume, domestic production etc, it was not found feasible to increase the custom duty on sugar," he said. The minister was replying to a query whether the Centre has received demands to raise sugar import duty to 60% to stem shipments. Industry bodies have been demanding a hike in the custom duty on sugar from the present 10% to curb imports.

Sugar output in India, the world's second largest producer after Brazil, is estimated to decline to 24.3 million tonnes in 2012-13 marketing year (October-September) against over 26 million tonnes in the previous year.