According to some media reports, the Sindh government has fixed rate of sugarcane at Rs 182 per 40 kg and has asked sugar factories to start crushing from November 30, 2017, accepting two major demands of growers' organisations. The sugarcane rate was decided and announced in a meeting of Sindh Sugarcane Control Board attended by representatives of growers and sugar millers in Karachi on November 29, 2017. It is the fourth time, the Sindh government has come up with Rs 182 per 40 kg cane rate. Also, the Punjab government has already fixed sugarcane rate at Rs 180 per 40 kg for 2017-18 crushing season.
It merits a mention that the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet (ECC) on the recommendation of Council of Common Interest (CCI) had allowed export of 1.5 million tonnes of sugar on November 28, 2017, with a subsidy of Rs 10.70 per 1 kg.
In view of the above, the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is requested to:-
i) follow suit and fix support price for coming sugarcane season 2017-18 at an early date;
ii) arrange commencement of sugarcane crushing season at the earliest; and
iii) allow its share of subsidy on the export of surplus sugar from the province as per recommendation of the CCI and decision of ECC mentioned above.