Sugar price: Talks between caretaker govt, mill owners successful

LAHORE: The talks between the Punjab caretaker government and sugar mill owners remained successful regarding the sugar price, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The Punjab caretaker government and sugar mill owners reached a conclusion after holding talks for three days. A delegation of the sugar mill owners held a meeting with the Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister (CM) Mohsin Naqvi.

Both sides agreed on starting the sugarcane crushing on October 28. The sugar mill owners decided to sell sugar to the Punjab government at Rs140 per kilogram. The provincial government will sell the sugar stocks at special stalls to be established at model markets.

CM Naqvi said that he is aware of the financial troubles being faced by the citizens and they will be provided with relief through decreasing the sugar price.

Sugar price has crossed Rs200 per kilogram in local markets in different cities of the country.

Despite the commerce ministry’s rejection of a shortage, the sugar price rocketed to over Rs200 per kilogram in different cities. The inflation-hit citizens demanded the authorities to take concrete steps to reduce the sugar price.

The citizens of Quetta and Sukkur were forced to buy sugar at Rs220 per kg, whereas, the sugar was available in Karachi markets from Rs180 to Rs200 per kg.

The sugar price was hiked to Rs195 to Rs200/kg in Lahore, Jhang and Faisalabad.

A few days ago, it was reported that sugar price spiked to a record high of Rs220 per kg in retail markets of Balochistan.

The authorities launched a probe into the rise in sugar price and tightened noose around sugar mill owners and dealers in Lahore.

It was learnt that the authorities collected sale data of sugar traders and also prepared lists of the hoarders. The provincial government of Punjab planned to launch a crackdown to reduce the sugar price.