Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br /><br />The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br /><br />The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br /><br />Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br /><br />India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br /><br />The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br /><br />Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br /><br />In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br /><br />While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br /><br />Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br /><br />According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br /><br />The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br /><br />&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br /><br />Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br /><br />Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br /><br />Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br /><br />Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br /><br />In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br /><br />The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br /><br />Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br /><br />Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br /><br />&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br /><br />Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br /><br />&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br /><br />Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br /><br />Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br /><br /><em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em></div>               </font>
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br /><br />The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br /><br />The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br /><br />Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br /><br />India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br /><br />The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br /><br />Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br /><br />In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br /><br />While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br /><br />Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br /><br />According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br /><br />The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br /><br />&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br /><br />Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br /><br />Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br /><br />Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br /><br />Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br /><br />In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br /><br />The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br /><br />Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br /><br />Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br /><br />&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br /><br />Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br /><br />&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br /><br />Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br /><br />Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br /><br /><em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em></div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67ea9a6360cf6-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&amp;mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&amp;mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &amp;ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&amp;rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office on Friday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&amp;rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&amp;mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&amp;emsp;to 17,233.98 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &amp;ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&amp;rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &amp;ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Congress defended the government&amp;rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&amp;rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &amp;ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&amp;rsquo;s response,&amp;rdquo; said the party member cited above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &amp;ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&amp;rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &amp;ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&amp;rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &amp;ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &amp;ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&amp;rsquo;s economy. It can&amp;rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&amp;rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&amp;rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&amp;rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&amp;rdquo; Verma said. &amp;ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &amp;ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&amp;rdquo; he added.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&amp;rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in..."/>
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                <strong>UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br /><br />The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br /><br />The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br /><br />Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br /><br />India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br /><br />The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br /><br />Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br /><br />In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br /><br />While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br /><br />Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br /><br />According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br /><br />The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br /><br />&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br /><br />Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br /><br />Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br /><br />Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br /><br />Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br /><br />In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br /><br />The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br /><br />Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br /><br />Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br /><br />&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br /><br />Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br /><br />&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br /><br />Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br /><br />Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br /><br /><em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em></div>               </font>
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<div align="justify">
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br />
<br />
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br />
<br />
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br />
<br />
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br />
<br />
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br />
<br />
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br />
<br />
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br />
<br />
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br />
<br />
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br />
<br />
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br />
<br />
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br />
<br />
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br />
<br />
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br />
<br />
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br />
<br />
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br />
<br />
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br />
<br />
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br />
<br />
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br />
<br />
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br />
<br />
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br />
<br />
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br />
<br />
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br />
<br />
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br />
<br />
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br />
<br />
<em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em>
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in...',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br /><br />The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br /><br />The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br /><br />Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br /><br />India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br /><br />The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br /><br />Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br /><br />In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br /><br />While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br /><br />Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br /><br />According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br /><br />The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br /><br />&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br /><br />Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br /><br />Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br /><br />Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br /><br />Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br /><br />In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br /><br />The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br /><br />Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br /><br />Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br /><br />&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br /><br />Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br /><br />&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br /><br />Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br /><br />Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br /><br /><em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em></div>',
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	'title' => 'UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh',
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<div align="justify">
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br />
<br />
The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br />
<br />
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br />
<br />
The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br />
<br />
Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br />
<br />
India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br />
<br />
The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br />
<br />
Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br />
<br />
In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br />
<br />
While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br />
<br />
Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br />
<br />
According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br />
<br />
Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br />
<br />
Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br />
<br />
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br />
<br />
Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br />
<br />
In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br />
<br />
The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br />
<br />
Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br />
<br />
Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br />
<br />
Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br />
<br />
Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br />
<br />
India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br />
<br />
Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br />
<br />
<em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em>
</div>',
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in...'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand&mdash;all sugarcane-growing regions&mdash;are in the middle of an election campaign.<br /><br />The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. &ldquo;It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,&rdquo; said a release from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office on Friday.<br /><br />The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s EAC K.P. Krishnan.<br /><br />Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations.<br /><br />India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry.<br /><br />The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday&mdash;Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92%&emsp;to 17,233.98 points.<br /><br />Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles.<br /><br />In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre).<br /><br />While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg).<br /><br />Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, &ldquo;The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.&rdquo; The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said.<br /><br />According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. &ldquo;So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Congress defended the government&rsquo;s actions against attacks by the opposition.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,&rdquo; said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. &ldquo;Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.&rdquo;<br /><br />The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state.<br /><br />&ldquo;Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP&rsquo;s response,&rdquo; said the party member cited above.<br /><br />Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, &ldquo;I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.&rdquo; Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls.<br /><br />Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, &ldquo;We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.&rdquo; The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct.<br /><br />Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: &ldquo;It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.&rdquo;<br /><br />K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, &ldquo;The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country&rsquo;s economy. It can&rsquo;t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,&rdquo; said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity.<br /><br />Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol.<br /><br />In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia.<br /><br />The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations.<br /><br />Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011.<br /><br />Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government.<br /><br />&ldquo;The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry&rsquo;s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,&rdquo; said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group.<br /><br />Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced.<br /><br />&ldquo;To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,&rdquo; Verma said. &ldquo;We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol.<br /><br />Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. &ldquo;We want politics out of the sugar industry,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year.<br /><br />Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country&rsquo;s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. <br /><br /><em>Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.</em></div>'
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UPA signals intent to deregulate sugar industry by Sangeeta Singh

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand—all sugarcane-growing regions—are in the middle of an election campaign. The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of companies that produce the commodity rallied. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an expert committee, headed by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to examine the merits of deregulating sugar. “It will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister,” said a release from the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday. The committee, which can seek out more experts if required, includes Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, food secretary B.C. Gupta, agriculture secretary P.K. Basu, chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices Ashok Gulati, former food secretary T. Nanda Kumar, and secretary to the Prime Minister’s EAC K.P. Krishnan. Gulati said there was no time frame set for the committee and the final outcome will depend on its deliberations. India, the biggest consumer and second biggest producer of the sweetener, controls the industry through procurement prices set by both Centre and states, besides a monthly release mechanism that keeps prices stable. For instance, during festival season, traders are asked to release more sugar to keep prices under control. Ten per cent of sugar is routed to the poor through the public distribution system at lower prices, the cost of which is borne by the industry. The announcement led to a spurt in sugar stocks on Friday—Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd and Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd rose 6.5% each, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd was up 4% and Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd rose 12%. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.92% to 17,233.98 points. Though pro-industry, total deregulation could make sugarcane farmers vulnerable to global and domestic commodity price cycles. In fact, ahead of the elections, the state governments to the three states effected an increase in the annually announced state advised prices (SAP) for cane growers (besides this, fair and remunerative price, or FRP, is set by the Centre). While SAP in Uttar Pradesh is Rs.240 per quintal, it is Rs.250 in Uttarakhand. FRP for the current season is Rs.145 per quintal (one quintal is 100 kg). Sudhir Panwar, professor at the University of Lucknow and a farm activist, said, “The sugar industry lobby has been trying to deregulate the sector.” The composition of the committee is such that it is bound to recommend deregulation, he said. According to Panwar, the impact will depend on how the political parties interpret the message in their campaign. “So, depending on how the issue shapes up in the coming days, it could either help Congress win the farm vote or lose it.” The Congress defended the government’s actions against attacks by the opposition. “The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in principle disapproves of any attempt to liberalize the sugar industry norms,” said a senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media. “Any such move will only help big industrialists and poor cane farmers will get squeezed. We had opposed such moves in the past and will continue to do so.” The BSP, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, is seeking to retain power in the state. “Madam (Mayawati) will make a formal announcement on BSP’s response,” said the party member cited above. Yashwant Sinha, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union finance minister, said, “I think the Prime Minister should have waited since Uttar Pradesh is a major sugar-producing state and is going for polls.” Governments are barred from announcing policy decisions when the electoral code of conduct is in place ahead of polls. Similarly, Mohan Singh, senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, said, “We have been opposing attempts to deregulate the sugar sector...if it happens, the prices will go through the roof and become too expensive for the poor. This will also affect the farmers.” The Samajwadi Party also maintained that the move was a violation of the electoral code of conduct. Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: “It is too early to come to any conclusions. The final report by the committee, however, will be considered by the government.” K.V. Thomas, minister of state for food and consumer affairs, said, “The government has just constituted a committee to look into various aspects of sugar pricing and sugar industry. The committee has been asked to come up with suggestions that will benefit both the parties (farmers and mill owners) and the country’s economy. It can’t be a violation of the code of conduct as it is only the formation of an expert committee.” “If there is a genuine ground, the order will be stayed in the same way the 4.5% reservation order was stayed,” said a senior Election Commission official requesting anonymity. Kumar said the new committee is likely to examine the entire gamut of issues related to sugar decontrol. In 2010, the government constituted an expert committee under Rangarajan to look into linking cane prices with those of sugar and its by-products, a mechanism prevalent in other sugar-producing countries such as Brazil and Australia. The report of that Rangarajan committee, which also had Kumar and Kaushik Basu as members, was never finalized as some government representatives had reservations. Mint reported first on the draft findings of that committee on sugar decontrol on 4 January, 2011. Industry representatives welcomed the latest move by the government. “The industry has suggested a phase-wise decontrol of the sugar industry so that farmers get better prices for cane as these prices will be linked to prices of sugar and its by-products; the industry’s obligation of levy sugar will be removed and the regulatory mechanism of releasing a particular amount of sugar every month is gone,” said Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association lobby group. Verma added that prices of cane linked to sugar and its by-products can go higher than the FRP in good crop years and the cyclicality in the industry can be substantially reduced. “To be sure that farmers are benefited, the industry has also suggested minimum support prices by the Centre,” Verma said. “We have approached the central government as it is well within its powers to decontrol the industry.” Sugar industry representatives met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 January to discuss decontrol. Narendra Murkumbi, MD, Shree Renuka Sugars, backed FRP, but said SAP was having a deleterious effect on companies. “We want politics out of the sugar industry,” he added. India is the second biggest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. The estimated production this sugar season (October 2011-September 2012) is 26 million tonnes, a jump of 1.6 million tonnes from last year. Uttar Pradesh is the biggest producer of sugarcane after Maharashtra, contributing over one-fourth to the total country’s production. It produced 6.9 million tonnes of sugar last year. Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story.