Sugar decontrol on the cards, but Pawar cautious

Agriculture and food supply minister Sharad Pawar said today that a decision on decontrolling the sugar sector will be taken after assessing the likely production for the next year and keeping the interest of the consumers in mind. He has called a meeting with top sugar industry officials on Thursday to discuss lifting restrictions on the heavily regulated sector.

India, the world's top sugar consumer, decides the quantity mills can sell, buys 10-20 per cent of mills' output at lower rates for subsidised sale to the poor through the public distribution system, and sets the price mills must pay for cane to farmers, besides enforcing other regulations.

Industry officials say tight controls over sugar distort the market and accentuate output swings in the country, which was a large importer of sugar last year, helping drive New York-traded raw sugar to its highest price in 29 years early this year.

"The minister has sought a meeting with some leading sugar industry officials and mill owners to get down to brass tacks," a senior industry official, who asked not to be identified since the information is not yet public, told Reuters.

"I will collect the information about total production by the end of August. It (decontrolling the sugar sector) depends upon what is the area availability in the country. Then it will depend upon what is the production," Pawar told mediamen on the sidelines of an ICAR function in New Delhi.

"We don't want to take any decision which will ultimately affect the consumers. We have to protect the interest of the consumers, farmers and industry all together," Pawar added.