Cabinet defers Rs 4,500 cr sugar package;

proposal may come up next week. The Union Cabinet did not consider Wednesday Rs 4,500 crore plan to more than double the production assistance paid to sugarcane farmers and transport subsidy to sugar exporting mills, sources said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) may take up the food ministry’s proposal next week, they added. The ministry has proposed sharp increase in production assistance to farmers to Rs 13.88 per quintal for 2018-19 marketing year (October-September) from Rs 5.5 at present.