Taking into account last year's carry over stock of 67.23 lakh tonne, the total availability of sugar works out to 247.23 lakh tonne during the current season against the estimated consumption of 150.84 lakh tonne, he said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The sugar stock at the end of the season in September, 2000 is expected to be of the order of 96.39 lakh tonne, the minister said.
Chauhan said the government had taken a number of measures -- including reduction in levy obligation from 40 per cent to 30 per cent of production, increase in customs duty to 60 per cent together with existing countervailing duty of Rs 850 per tonne -- to restrict the inflow of imported sugar.
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In order to improve the viability of the sugar mills, the government is pursuing a policy of encouraging stability and reasonable level of sugar prices in the open market through judicious release of free-sale sugar quotas, advance release of free-sale sugar to the needy factories and export of up to 10 lakh tonne of sugar, he said.
Chauhan said no sugar mill had so far reported closure or indicated sickness due to higher production or stocks.