Sugar industry confident of some meaningful policy announcement in the upcoming budget

17-Jul-2024 11:26 AM

New Delhi. The Indian sugar industry has long been demanding the central government to increase the purchase price for ethanol, provide financial assistance to sugarcane harvesters and formulate a long-term policy for import-export of sugar and continue to provide continuous policy support for ethanol production so that the mills can get rid of the problem of rising cost expenses.

The industry also wants that the ex-factory minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar should be increased in line with the increase in the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane.

The cost of sugar has increased from Rs 3400-3500 per quintal to Rs 4000/4100 per quintal in the last five years, while its MSP has remained stable at Rs 3100 per quintal since the year 2019.

A plan was made to increase it once or twice, but no final decision could be taken, which caused great disappointment to the industry.

The sugar industry is hopeful that the Union Finance Minister may announce some positive measures in the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 to be presented in Parliament during the current month.

The industry has been facing various storms and challenges for a long time and due to many reasons, the flow of money has been obstructed.

There is a ban on the export of sugar since June 2023, while the industry has its surplus stock. The production of ethanol from sugarcane decreased significantly in the 2023-24 season as the government limited the amount of use of sugarcane (sugar) in the manufacture of ethanol.

This led to a huge reduction in the additional income of the mills. Within the last five years, various types of expenses have increased significantly, due to which it is becoming difficult for the sugar mills to balance the income and expenditure.