The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday alleged that there was a scandal in the soaring prices of sugar and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter. The party also opposed the import of sugar.
State BJP vice-president Kirit Somaiya alleged that the sugar scarcity had been created by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. “There is no shortage of sugar in the country at present,” Somaiya said. The rise in sugar prices by Rs10 a kilo is due to the manipulative and speculative tactics by the government.”
Somaiya opposed Pawar’s plans to import sugar. “Some big sugar companies are trying to create the atmosphere of shortage,” he said. “If import of sugar is allowed, some big companies will take out around Rs4,000 crore from the commoners’ pocket in January alone.”
Somaiya said the big companies had hoarded stock. “Nine big sugar companies have imported 200 crore kilos of sugar recently,” he said.
“The cost of raw sugar import is Rs18-20 per kilo. After getting it processed, the cost of sugar goes up to Rs25 per kilo. But these companies are not interested in picking up the stock, getting it processed, and making the sugar available in the retail market. This type of manipulative hoarding has resulted in a steep jump of Rs10 per kilo for sugar.”
Somaiya claimed that the share prices of these companies had gone up by 300% in a year. “The government informed Parliament in December last year that India has 40 lakh tonne of sugar stock till September 2010 and the domestic production will be around 160 lakh tonne,” he said.
“It means more than 95% of the domestic requirement is available in the country itself at the price of Rs18-20 per kilo. Then why has the sugar price crossed Rs40?”
