Rangarajan panel recommends deregulation of sugar sector

The Rangarajan Committee in its latest report, submitted to the Prime Minister, recommended deregulation of the sugar sector, the only remaining industry that continues to be controlled by the government, by giving freedom to mills to sell sugar in the open market. It has also suggested doing away with the system of levy sugar, under which the mills are required to sell 10 per cent of their production to the government at below market price for running ration shops. Levy sugar is meant for distribution in the ration shops, while non-levy sugar is for sale in the open market. While other sectors of the economy have been freed, the sugar industry continues to remain under the government control, right from the level of production to distribution. The Centre fixes the quantity of sugar that mills can sell in the open market and ration shops. The industry has been for a long time demanding the government do away with the systems of regulated release mechanism and levy sugar obligations. The expert committee was set up by the Prime Minister to examine issues related to decontrolling the sugar sector.