No subsidy in sugar this festive season, fair price outlets opening soon

KATHMANDU: Consumers will not be able to get sugar at a concessional rate from the fair price shops to be operated by the public enterprises during the festivals this year.

There is a very slim chance to sell sugar through the fair price shops this year as there is no stock of sugar with the public enterprise – Salt Trading Corporation, said an official.

“The STC has no stock of sugar. And the government has not allowed STC to import sugar with a customs subsidy. So, it is not possible to sell sugar through the fair price shops this year,” Urmila KC, undersecretary and deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).

Although the MoICS again proposed the Ministry of Finance to allow STC and Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) to import sugar targeting the Dashain festival, the Ministry of Finance has yet to decide in this regard, she said. The government had not given permission to STC for the import of sugar on customs subsidy for the last two years.

“The MoICS prepared to import about 50,000 tonnes of sugar by STC and FMTC for Dashain-Tihar on customs exemption and submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance two months ago for its permission. However, since no decision has been taken so far, it is almost impossible to import sugar by public enterprises at customs discount for the festivals,” she said.

This time, the Ministry had proposed to import sugar at 1 per cent customs with zero per cent VAT to control the artificial price hike of sugar that has already been seen in the market.

Last time, the STC had imported sugar at 50 per cent discount in customs duty. She said that the STC has already stopped the sales of sugar to customers for the past two months after it ran out of its stock. Due to this, the price of sugar has already increased and has reached Rs. 110 per kg in the market.

She said that even though there would be no sale of sugar from the fair price shops, the other goods, such as rice, pulses, salt, ghee and other items being sold by the FMTC, STC and DDC would be sold at a discounted rate.

Earlier, the public enterprises sold essential goods with discounts ranging from Rs. 2 per kg to Rs. 10 through the fair price shops during the festivals.

“There is no shortage of sugar in the market as there is enough stock of sugar with private traders. So, the government would intensify market monitoring to curb artificial price hikes of essential goods, including sugar, taking advantage of high demand during the festivals,” she said.