The former union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister’s Office, seeking a hike in sugarcane subsidy to ₹ 10 per 100 kg from the current ₹5.50 .

The government had recently announced the subsidy to help sugar mills clear their dues to farmers.The support is likely to cost the exchequer around ₹1,540 crore.

To tackle surplus sugar output this season, the government had also mandated mills to export two million tonnes (mt) till September under a Minimum InSugar dicative scheme.

Pawar asked the government to make export of 8—9 mt of sugar mandatory and to extend the scheme to September 2019. Export Quantity

output in the ongoing season is estimated at a record high of around 32 mt. In 2018—19 too, production is likely to be at record levels, according to market players.

A buffer stock of 5 mln tn sugar should be created and a sugar release mechanism implemented to stem the fall in sugar prices, he said. Under this mechanism, the government imposes a certain quota on a commodity that can be sold in the open market, to maintain a balance between supply and demand.

A separate package providing for soft loans for seven years is needed, he said.