Government eases norms to push sugar exports
In an effort to push sugar exports, the government has softened the norms that required exporters to obtain registration certificate on quantity before shipment. “The requirement of registration of quantity with DGFT for export of sugar has been dispensed with,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification issued on Monday. Earlier, exporters need to get registration certificate issued from DGFT before supplying the sweetener to overseas buyers. The DGFT used to issue the certificate for up to 50,000 tonnes of export. The move is seen as part of measures taken by the government to sell its stockpile of surplus sugar. Traders say that the decision will help expedite the outbound shipments as they will not have to apply for registration certificate every time. According to estimates, India’s total production of sugar is expected to be around 28 million tonnes during the current marketing year (October-September), much higher than the domestic requirement of around 25 million tonnes. Between October 2014 and April 2015, India exported 1.26 million tonnes of sugar. The country has already been struggling to sell sugar overseas due to oversupply and fall in prices of the sweetener in the international market. Piling up of surplus stock has added to the woes of sugar mill owners who are indebted with around Rs.4,000 of payment due on sugar cane farmers across the country. Earlier, the Commerce Ministry had announced that it will explore options of barter trade with several countries to offload the surplus stock of sugar. Sugar exporters also get subsidy at the rate of Rs.4000 per tonne from the government.
September 08, 2015 | 2:28pm IST.
to success.