Month: July 2017

West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corporation Ltd, a nodal agency for procuring sugar on behalf of the Food and Supplies Department of the state, have sought bids to buy 8,100 tonne of sugar. The sweetener bought would be supplied during Sep-Oct through the public distribution system. Sep-Oct is a period of key festivals such as Durga Pooja, Kali Pooja and Chhat Pooja in the state. The submission of the bids closes on Aug 7, and the price bid open on Aug 9. The bids remain valid for 60 days from the date of opening of the tender.

The Pakistan government has allowed export of 300,000 tonne of sugar. The country had 1.45 million tonne of surplus sugar stock from the last crushing season. Exporters in the country should export the allotted quota within two months. Earlier, Pakistan had allowed export of 425,000 tonne sugar, as millers in the country wanted the government to allow export to settle dues of farmers.

Prices of sugar inched up in the key wholesale markets of Maharashtra as millers quoted higher prices. Despite poor demand, mills are raising prices as there is no pressure on them to sell stocks. Millers will receive the new supply of sugar by mid-September and will have to manage with the current stocks till then. In North India, prices of sugar remained unchanged. Sugar futures on NCDEX it the 3% upper limit, taking cues from the strength in spot prices.

The Maharashtra government has made drip irrigation mandatory for sugarcane crops in all the irrigated command areas across the state. More than half the land in Maharashtra is drought-prone and this decision is considered a formidable step towards water conservation. The government install drip irrigation system in the fields of total 3.7 lakh hectares in a phased manner within the next two years. The state provides a loan with an interest rate of only 2%. The amount of loan will be Rs 85,400 per hectare.

Out of the total outstanding cane dues of Rs 25,836.46 crore for crushing season 2016-17, a payment of Rs 22,807.53 crore was made to cane growers till July 14. This is 89.84 per cent of the total dues. Around 90 per cent of cane dues amounting to Rs 22,807 crore was given to sugarcane growers till July 14 during the crushing season 2016-17. The cane area of the state had increased by two lakh hectare due to the faith reposed by farmers on Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath.