Consumers not facing problems due to sugar decontrol, says food minister

NEW DELHI: Consumers are not facing any problems due to decontrol of the sugar sector as prices of the sweetener in the open market continue to remain subdued, Parliament was informed today.

"The prices of sugar in the open market continue to be subdued due to sugar production exceeding domestic demand. Besides, the BPL families continue to get sugar at subsidised rate through PDS. There are no problems faced by consumers due to decontrol," Minister of State for Food and Consumer affairs Raosaheb Patil Danve said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

He noted that the Centre had decontrolled the sugar sector in April 2013 by removing the levy obligation on sugar mills and also doing away with the regulated release mechanism of open market sale of sugar.

"These measures intended to increase competitiveness, improve efficiency and promote development of the sugar sector on sustainable basis which in turn were to help in meeting the aspirations of consumers for better prices and adequate availability of sugar," Danve said.

Post-decontrol, the minister said that the Centre has asked the States and Union Territories to procure sugar for the open market through a transparent system to meet the demand for ration shops.

India is the second largest producer of sugar. Production estimates for the current 2014-15 marketing year is 26 million tonnes as against the demand of 24.8 million tonnes, according to industry data.