Sugar Mills Seek Incentives for Early Crushing to Cover Losses

In a joint letter to Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Thursday, ISMA Director-General Deepak Ballani and NFCSF Managing Director Prakash Naiknavare requested support to offset recovery losses, additional domestic sale quota equivalent to October production, or a CGST waiver on domestic sales. The proposal, first raised at a July 17 meeting, aims to get fresh sugar to market ahead of festivals. The groups said India has adequate stocks and recent price rises do not reflect demand-supply fundamentals, noting season average realisations up to July were ₹40–40.50 per kg, below the ₹42 production cost.

They added member mills have paid about ₹1.10 lakh crore to farmers this season. Early crushing would lower sugar recovery and cane yields, they said. Separately, the government on July 28 imposed a 400-tonne stock limit on dealers until November 30, with excess stock to be liquidated by August 1. The government continues to have adequate sugar stocks to comfortably meet domestic consumption requirements.