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The food ministry has recommended a hike in import duty on white sugar to 20% in order to check flooding of the sweetener in the domestic market, a senior government official said on Monday. At present, import duty on white sugar as well as raw sugar is at 10% each. “We have recommended increasing import duty on white sugar to 20% and maintain 10% duty on raw sugar,” the official said. The finance ministry is yet to take a call on this issue, the official added. Last month, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said the government will take a call on revising the import duty structure of sugar only after three months taking into account the progress made in crushing.
India may export 1.5 mt wheat
The government is likely to allow export of an additional 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from its godowns in order to clear surplus stocks. In July, the government had allowed export of 2 million tonnes of FCI wheat through PSUs such as MMTC, STC and PEC by March 2013. Of this, 1.5 million tonnes has been contracted 8 lakh tonnes shipped so far. "We have moved a cabinet note for export of an additional 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from the central pool. The proposal may come up for discussion soon," a senior government official said.
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