The Union government has extended the zero-duty regime on refined and raw sugar imports till March 31. The move is aimed at arresting the galloping inflation.
In April 2009, the government removed import duty following a sharp decline in output to nearly 15 million tonnes against the annual domestic demand of 23 million tonnes.
After the zero-duty regime lapsed on December 31, 2010, it brought into effect the earlier duty structure of 60 per cent.
However, a fresh notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on January 8 extended the duty-free regime till March 31.
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, said that the Centre would start issuing permits for export of five lakh tonnes of sugar under open general licence (OGL) after January 30.
Mr Pawar denied any move to cancel the earlier decision to allow the exports of five lakh tonnes of the sweetener following the sudden rise in food prices.
The Directorate of Sugar on January 1 had issued detailed guidelines for export of the five lakh tonnes which was to be pro-rated among individual mills based on their average annual production for the last three years.
The guidelines stated that all applications by mills seeking release orders for their export entitlements "will be processed within 3 working days."
Mr Pawar's statement now that the permits would be issued only after January 30 means that the three working days processing time limit no longer holds. That effectively translates into a suspension of exports.
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