The Centre has decided to introduce from September fortnightly sugar allocation system replacing the existing monthly quota system.
According to an official press release, the mills will be required to sell at least 40 % of the allocation in the first week and remaining quantity in the succeeding week.
The statement said that physical verification of sugar stocks at the mills revealed that many mills were holding stocks more than the declarations made in the monthly returns submitted to the government. Some were found short selling – selling less sugar than the quantity allocated to them under the monthly quota. It was also found that in some cases, sugar sold by mills at the beginning of the month was dispatched or lifted by buyers only towards the end of the month.
In order to address such issues, the government has decided to introduce the fortnightly sugar allocation system. It will enable the government to monitor closely the demand-supply situation, respond quickly to changes in the market, prevent artificial shortages, and release additional quota whenever needed.
The mills have been directed to dispatch the sold sugar within a week. Crushing will commence on October 15 and sugar production in October is expected to be 10 lakh tonnes and 45 lakh tonnes in November. The mills can sell sugar in October without any restriction, the release said.
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