COMMODITY
Centre clears Rs 1,800 crore in subsidy to sugar mills so far in 2020-21 season
Sep-21-2021

The Centre has so far cleared Rs 1,800 crore in subsidy to sugar mills for undertaking a mandated export of 6 million tonnes of the sweetener in the 2020-21 season-ending this month. The government had to offer export subsidies during the last three seasons to reduce surplus stocks and help cash-starved sugar mills clear cane payments to growers on time. It offered subsidies for the export of a fixed quota of sugar.

About Rs 3,500 crore budget was allocated towards export subsidy for the ongoing season. Out of which, Rs 1,800 crore has been spent on clearing the subsidy claims. The balance subsidy will be paid to mills soon, once the funds are released from the finance ministry. Mills have already exported the entire quota of 6 million tonnes set for the current 2020-21 season. They have also exported sugar without subsidies taking advantage of the firm global trends.

Exports were undertaken smoothly even as the government slashed subsidies on sugar exports for the current season from Rs 6,000 per tonne to Rs 4,000 per tonne because of firm international prices. On the pending subsidy claims of the 2019-20 season, the official mentioned that Rs 5,000 crore subsidy claims were cleared so far. The balance of Rs 1,200 crore will be paid to mills in the next two months. Sugar production is estimated to have reached 31 million tonnes in the 2020-21 season (October-September). India is the world's second-biggest sugar producer after Brazil.

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