UP food and supplies commissioner has announced that the state govt would buy sugar only from the state sugar cooperative mills for public distribution system. The state’s monthly sugar requirement for the PDS has been estimated at 33 thousand tonnes.
It is worth mentioning that ever since the central govt. has abolished the sugar levy system, the state govts. have to get sugar for the PDS from the open market. However, the center has agreed to compensate their open market procurement.
Sources say there are 23 cooperative and about 100 private sugar mills all of them together have produced more than 74 lakh tonnes of sugar this year. The state govt. would buy sugar from the cooperative sugar mills through the bidding process, add the sources.
According to the commissioner, unlike other states UP would like to rely on long-term tender for the PDS sugar.