Search Result for : Ram Vilas Paswan

Government considering import duty on wheat: Agri Secretary

The Dollar Business Bureau  The Government of India is considering levying duty on wheat imports in order to safeguard the farmers amid the predictions of a record production this year, the Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said on Wednesday. On December 8th last year, the government had reduced the customs duty on the imports of wheat to nil from 10% in order to boost availability of the grain in the domestic market and to check the retail prices. With the country now set to have a record output of 96.64 million tonnes of wheat in the current crop year of 2016-17 (July-June), there are apprehensions that the prices will come under pressure when the new crop reaches the market. “Whether to propose import duty ...

Govt may consider imposing duty on wheat imports: Paswan

The Dollar Business Bureau  The government is considering imposing imports duty on wheat in order to protect the interests of farmers amidst expectations of a record production this year, said Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Food and Public Distribution.  On December 8, the government had reduced the customs duty on wheat imports to nil from 10% in order to boost its availability in the domestic market and to check retail prices.  The Minister said that there would be a bumper crop of wheat this year and the ministry has set a target of procuring 33 million tonnes of grain in the marketing year 2017-18, which starts from April.  the new crop of wheat will start coming into the market from March, said Paswan, while adding that the government ...

Import duty on wheat scrapped to improve domestic consumption

The Dollar Business Bureau The Govt has scrapped the 10% import duty on wheat with immediate effect due to imminent shortage of wheat on the back of severe drought that wheat producing states faced last couple of years. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made the announcement in the Parliament on Thursday, stating that import duty on wheat had been reduced to nil from 10% without an end-date. It should be recalled that the government had in Sept lowered the import duty on wheat from 25% to 10% till February. This move comes in the wake of increasing wheat prices in the country and also to increase wheat stocks in the market. Private traders had imported nearly 1.72 million tonnes (MT) of wheat so ...

Govt imposes 20% custom duty on sugar exports

The Dollar Business Bureau The government on Thursday levied a customs duty of 20% on the exports of sugar to boost local supply and control domestic prices which are at a high of Rs.40 per kg. The decision comes at a time when food prices have increased sharply on food items such as tomato, pulses and wheat. "To keep a tab on the domestic sugar prices, the government has taken a decision to impose customs duty of 20% on the exports of raw sugar, refined or white sugar," according to a release by the Finance Ministry. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) released the same in a notification. Due to a sharp increase in global prices, customs duty has been imposed to curb ...

India may levy 25% customs duty on sugar exports

The Dollar Business Bureau In order to ensure enough supply of sugar in the local market, the government may impose a 25 percent customs duty on export of the sweetener. “There is a rising trend in the sugar prices in the global market. To make profits, traders may enhance the sugar exports. To keep a check on this, it is proposed to impose a 25 percent duty. This will keeps sufficient supply of sugar and the prices will also be under control,” said Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Food & Public Distribution, in a tweet on Thursday.  The overall production of sugar in India is likely to drop in 2016, mainly due to drought in major sugar-growing states including Maharashtra and Karnataka. Since April, ...

Central Pool breaks buffer stock norms

The Dollar Business Bureau The stocks in the central pool is double of what is required for buffer norms that are used to tackle emergency like situations, said Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. As of 16th April 2016, food grains stocked at the Central Pool is estimated to be 496.12 lakh tonnes. The pool comprises 213.77 lakh tonnes of wheat and 282.35 lakh tonnes of rice. The total acquisition of current stocks shows a significant growth when compared to last year, which was 280.87 lakh tonnes. The possession of more than 4 lakh tonnes of foodgrains was against the buffer norms (stocking norms) that permit buffer stocking of 210.40 lakh tonnes. It includes 74.60 lakh tonnes of ...

GoI says no to FCI restructuring, supports NFSAs recommendation

The Dollar Business Bureau   The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan, on Thursday said that the Ministry is completely against the restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI), as recommended by the High Level Committee’s recommendation. In this regard, the Union Minister said, “The Government has decided not to accept the recommendation of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI regarding cut in the coverage of the National Food Security Act (NFSA),” adding that the Ministry’s views over the recommendations has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office. Stating that the beneficiary coverage at the level of 67% as provided by the NFSA would continue, the Minister said that enough steps have already ...

Government incentives to boost sugar exports

Sai Nikesh D | The Dollar Business The Government of India, in a move to improve the financial health of the Indian sugar sector, has taken steps to provide the incentives to the export of raw sugar, besides providing interest free loans for liquidation of the cane dues. According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association(ISMA) report, the government on Thursday has cleared a subsidy of Rs 4,000 a tonne to sugar mills for exports of up to 1.4 Million Tonnes(MT) of raw sugar in the 2014-15 crop year, that began last October and will last till September. Welcoming the move, the ISMA said, “Sugar mills will need to gear up to produce the 1.4 MT of raw sugar in ...