Government Cracks Down on Sugar Mills for Stock Limit Violations

The government plans to enforce strict penalties against sugar mills that violate stock holding limit orders. These penalties range from deducting excess sugar sales from future quotas to reducing ethanol procurement allocations. The guidelines are intended to prevent hoarding and maintain sugar market stability.

The government has announced stringent measures to penalize sugar mills that breach monthly stock holding limits, according to a statement from the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry on Friday.

The prescribed limits aim to prevent hoarding and curb price hikes, with the current month's cap set at 23.5 lakh tonnes. Despite prior warnings, some mills continue to defy these limits, prompting the ministry to issue new, stricter guidelines.

Initial violations will see a 100% deduction of excess sugar from the next month's quota, escalating to 150% for repeat offenses. Persistent violators face suspension of additional releases and loss of governmental scheme benefits, including ethanol procurement and export quotas.

(With inputs from agencies.)