Import Duty on sugar doubled to 100% to boost domestic cane farming

NewsBharati    07-Feb-2018
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New Delhi, February 7: The government has doubled import duty on sugar to 100 percent and raised duty on chana to 40 percent to protect domestic farmers. At present, customs duty or import tax on sugar is 50 percent and on chana is 30 percent.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued notification in this regard. The move is aimed at curbing cheaper imports and ensure remunerative prices to domestic growers.

 

The CBEC said, the higher tax has been imposed with immediate effect and without an end date.

The sugar industry has been demanding hike in import duty as ex-mill rates have fallen below the cost of production, affecting their ability to make cane payment to farmers on time.

In case of chana, the government has raised import duty to 40 percent as it wants to contain inward shipments in view of record production of pulses to nearly 23 million tonnes this year.

In May, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Rs 255 per quintal fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane for 2017-18 season (October-September), up Rs 25 from the current Rs 230. Sugar prices have increased this year due to estimated fall in production of the sweetener at about 20 million tonnes in 2016-17 season, from 25 million tonnes in the previous year.