NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) has cleared the government’s decision to abolish import duty on raw and refined sugar, a senior
government official said. India is the largest consumer of sugar and the move will help in softening retail prices of sugar before the general election.
A notification abolishing the 60% duty will be published by the fi-nance ministry soon, commerce secretary GK Pillai said. The decision has been taken to stabilise sugar prices which have been steadily going up, he told mediapersons. Retail prices of sugar have shot up to Rs 23-25 a kg from Rs 17-18 a kg in August last year.
The government has also decided to allow zero duty import of sugar under the open general licence scheme. Unlike the advance licence scheme, under the open general licence scheme, importers do not have any export obligation. They can import goods duty free without any commitment to export.
Last week, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had decided to allow public sector trading firms MMTC, STC and PEC, and agri co-operative Nafed to import 10 lakh tonnes of refined sugar at zero duty by August 2009.
The official nod for allowing duty free import of sugar was taken by CCEA last week itself but the government could not formally an-nounce it pending a clearance from the Election Commission. A model code of conduct is in place following the announcement of the general election in the country and the government can’t take any popular decision without the approval of the Commission.
Speaking to mediapersons about country’s trade situation, Mr Pillai said that India’s exports in March 2009 could be below $12 billion, a 31% drop compared to $17 billion in March 2008. But the drop in im-ports would be sharper at 37%, he said.
The estimates indicate that India’s total exports in fiscal 2008-09 would be about $168 billion falling short of the government’s revised export target of $170-$175 billion. The original target of $200 billion was later scaled down by commerce minister Kamal Nath as exports slowed down in the second half of fiscal 2008-09 due to a decline in the demand.
Source : The Economic Times