India frees sugar exports, scraps MEP on onion

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SME Times News Bureau | 03 May, 2012
To allocate aids to manufacturers additionally growers, the Indian government has decided to remove the limit on sugar exports and also scrapped the minimum export price (MEP) on onion.

"A notification to this effect will be issued in due course," Commerce and Textiles Minister, Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.

The government also decided to constitute a committee, headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan, for formulating policy on how to handle surplus food-grains in government godowns, media reports.

These decision were taken at a high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.

The Prime Minister called this meeting after Pawar wrote to him objecting the export policies of agriculture items such as sugar, cotton and dairy products.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Commerce and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, Food Minister K V Thomas also attended the meeting.

"Sugar will be exported under the OGL only, not under first come first serve basis," a source said.

On March 26, the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on food had decided to allow on million tonnes of sugar export, but the decision has not been notified yet in absence of export modalities.

The panel of ministers had directed the ministry to come up with new policy to expedite exports. For the two million tonnes of sugar exports, which has so far been allowed to in the 2011-12 marketing year, the food ministry was allocating the export quota among millers on the basis of average production of last three years.