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No plan to cut sugar import tax for now: Nirmala Sitharaman

Sugar prices in the local market have started rising on an expected drop after drought

Nirmala, Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman
Reuters Mumbai
Last Updated : Jan 05 2017 | 6:21 PM IST

India, the world's biggest sugar consumer, is not planning to cut import duty on the sweetener at least in the near term, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters on Thursday.

Sugar prices in the local market have started rising on an expected drop in the production after back-to-back drought-ravaged cane crop in the top-producing western state of Maharashtra.

More than two dozen mills in Maharashtra have stopped crushing due to cane shortage while many more mills are likely to shut before February end, a producers' body said on Tuesday.

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First Published: Jan 05 2017 | 3:53 PM IST

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