Sugar-Superfluous Munificence

Sugar THE 1974-75 season (October-September) was, from all accounts, a highly satisfactory one for the sugar industry. Production at 48 lakh tonnes was the highest ever and was about 22 per cent hi fiber than in the previous season. However, the higher production was not allowed to make its impact on the price of sugar -7thanks to the system of regulated release of sugar operated by the government. The price was Rs 465 per quintal at the beginning' of the season and at the season's end was around Rs 435-445. The quantity of sugar released by the government for internal consumption at 34.50 lakh tonnes was only marginally higher than in the 1973-74 season and was actually lower than in the preceding three years. As a result, the season closed with stocks of 12.28 lakh tonnes compared to stocks of 8.28 lakh tonnes at the end of the previous season. To accommodate the larger stocks the Reserve Bank has directed commercial banks to relax margin requirements on advances against sugar. No doubt reflecting these highly satisfactory conditions in the industry in the last few years, the number of sugar factories in operation rose to 247 in the 1974-75 season from 229 in the previous season. According to statistics published by the Indian Sugar Mills' Association, in no year in the last two and a half decades has the number of sugar factories in operation gone up so sharply.