NEW DELHI—India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, is likely to raise import duty on the sweetener to 50% from 40% in an attempt to restrict cheaper flow of the commodity from overseas, a government official said Friday.
“There have been some apprehensions of cheaper imports flooding the Indian market. That’s why the government is likely to raise the duty to 50%,” the official, who did not want to be identified, said.
The government in April allowed the duty-free import of 500,000 tonnes of sugar by the end of June to keep a lid on prices after local production fell by a fifth from a year ago.
However, in 2017-18 marketing year starting from 1 October, India’s sugar output is expected to jump a quarter from the previous year to 25 million tonnes.
Source: www.livemint.com