The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and attended by Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Principal Secretary to the prime minister Nripendra Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and others.
It was also decided to provide additional interest-free loans up to Rs 4,400 crore to sugar mills, provided they used the money to pay dues to cane growers.
Will @PMOIndia ask straight question to #RamvilashPaswan for giving export subsidy on sugar that has increased price in domestic market?
— Manoj Anand (@manojananda) June 18, 2014
Experts suggested bringing down tariff on food items to attack inflation. Govt does opposite by raising import duty by 25% on raw sugar.
— M K Venu (@mkvenu1) June 24, 2014
In December, the Centre approved Rs 6,600 crore interest-free loans to sugar mills to clear the Rs 11,000 crore arrears they owe the farmers.The government also decided to extend the subsidy on raw sugar exports until September.The government also decided to increase the level of blending ethanol with petrol from the current five per cent to 10 per cent. However, for these decisions to come into effect, the sugar mills have to give a guarantee of clearing arrears to sugarcane farmers at the earliest.The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) welcomed the government’s decisions and said the move would improve cash flow to the mills.
