A senior congress leader from Maharashtra has shot off a letter to Union Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar,suggesting measures to regulate supply to sugar mills so that its prices can be controlled. In the letter sent on Friday,All-India Congress Committee member Kanhaiyala Gidwani said,Sugar mills are given a monthly relief quota. Past experiences show that sugar mills hoard this monthly quota for 10-15 days and create an artificial shortage in the open market. They release the quota into the market when the prices go up. To avoid this situation,the monthly release quota should be discharged in four equal quantities. Gidwani said this would strengthen the efforts to make the commodity available and control prices. Seeking a decision on sugar import soon,he said while the country needs 210 lakh tonnes of sugar a year,the production comes to around 150 lakh tonnes only.
