Cabinet approves Rs 3,500 crore subsidy on sugar export, to benefit 5 crore farmers

Government granted a subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore to sugar mills for the export of 60 lakh tonnes of sweetener during the current marketing year 2020-21.

“Cabinet has taken the decision to help farmers directly by depositing money of subsidy into their accounts. The subsidy will be given on 60 lakh tonnes of sugar exports at the rate of Rs 6000 per tonne,” said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Minister said that both “sugar industry as well as sugarcane farmers are in crisis” due to a strong domestic supply of 310 lakh tonnes compared to an annual demand of 260 lakh tonnes.

Javadekar said five crore farmers would benefit from the decision. In the previous marketing year 2019-20 (October-September), the Government granted a lump-sum export subsidy of Rs 10,448 per tonne, at the expense of Rs 6,268 crore.

Mills shipped 5.7 million tonnes of sugar compared to the required quota of 6 million tonnes set for the season 2019-20 (October-September) according to official reports.