ISLAMABAD: The federal government blamed the Government of Sindh for the soaring retail price of sugar in connivance with the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), and committed to bring down the price to Rs90 per kg in a couple of days.
In a press conference on Monday, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar blamed the provincial government for not promulgating a law to force the sugar mills for starting crushing of sugar as per schedule.
Unlike Sindh, he said the Punjab government has directed the sugar mills to start crushing from November 15 to 20; otherwise, punitive action would be taken against them, which was Rs5 million per day penalty and registration of case with the FIA.
Last year, the sugar mills in Sindh started crushing from October 15; however, they did not start crushing as yet in the current year, which was a ‘political conspiracy’ against the federal government.
“Federal government noticed that sugar mills in Sindh started their boilers for crushing on October 15; however, the mill owners switched them off in connivance with the provincial government of Sindh,” he said.
He maintained that prices were essentially a “demand and supply” phenomenon and could not be controlled by force alone. He said in the case of sugar, every political family owned a sugar mill.
He further said that 10,000 tons of sugar is available in stock, 30,000 ton imported sugar would soon arrive, and the Utility Stores Corporation also has a stock of 25,000 tons.
Media reports say the cost of sugar has spiked; the sweetener is now being sold for up to Rs145per kg in Karachi, and other cities.
Responding to a question, the minister said that the Track and Trace (T&T) system would be introduced in the current session for sugar mills.
As the sugar industry conditionally agreed to pasting of the tax stamp on sugar bags, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is all set to implement the T&T system from the current month.
The T&T system is expected to check sales tax evasion of billions of rupees at least in four major sectors -tobacco, cement, sugar, and fertilisers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021