Seized sugar to be auctioned,prices to come down further

Due to the crackdown on sugar hoarders the wholesale price of sugar in the state has dipped by Rs 250 per quintal; it has come down to Rs 3,000 per quintal against Rs 3,250 per quintal. However,retail prices till remained at Rs 33 per kg as retailers were reluctant to bring them down in tune with the wholesale rates.

Sugar trader Jagjit Singh said,“At present,the retail price of sugar is over Rs 33 per kg. If the seized sugar is sold in the open market,the retail price will fall to Rs 30 per kg or even less.”

As part of its measures to keep a check on black marketers,Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department had conducted raids on a Ludhiana-based sugar trader some time ago and recovered 1.07 lakh quintal sugar worth Rs 39 crore,which has been considered one of the highest ever sugar seizures in the state. Also,2,500 quintal and 600 quintal of sugar were seized from Amritsar . Earlier,the department,with the help of the police,also seized 20,000 quintals of sugar at Rajpura following a tip-off that a large quantity of sugar had been stocked by a mill. The state government has fixed a stock limit of 2,000 quintals for sugar under the Essential Commodities Act.