INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The centre has already doubled sugar import duty to 100%.
NEW DELHI: Cabinet approved a bailout package for the sugar sector, a government source said on Wednesday after a cabinet
meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to help struggling mills and cane growers, news agency Reuters reported
The Rs 8,500-crore bailout package was approved for the sugar industry which includes Rs 4,500 crore soft loan for building ethanol
production capacity, according to a report by news agency press Trust of India (PTI)
Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said the government would announce support measures to cut a growing sugar surplus and prop up
local prices, a move aimed at helping loss-making mills and millions of cane growers who make up a key voting bloc.The cabinet also approved
a Rs 1,300-crore interest subversion on the loan to be provided for creating new ethanol production capacity as also expanding the existing
Ethanol extracted from sugarcane will be used for blending in petrol and will provide cane farmers remunerative price for their crop
building of the buffer stock
Also included in the package is Rs 1,540 crore previously announced production-linked direct payment to help clear dues which sugar mills
owe to cane farmers, according to the PTI report
It has also asked mills to export 2 million tonnes of sugar
(With Reuters, PTI inputs)
