Govt mulls Rs 4.75/quintal subsidy on cane prices: Sources

To help the domestic sugar industry, government is looking at providing subsidy on cane prices to the tune of around Rs 4.75 per quintal, reports Varinder Bansal of CNBC-TV18, quoting sources. With the fair and remunerative price (FRP) currently around Rs 230 per quintal, the subsidy could be around 2-2.5% of the FRP amount.The sugar industry could get a subsidy of nearly Rs 1200 crore since the crushing is expected to be around 255 million tonnes. More importantly, the subsidy on cane prices is likely to be linked to sugar exports, say sources.According to sources, sugar companies that export 12-15 percent of the crushing can avail the subsidy on cane prices. Therefore, if the surplus in the market is exported, it would definitely benefit the domestic companies in terms of uptick in sugar prices, which is the main intent of the government.Currently, the sugar prices having moved from Rs 19 per kg to Rs 25 per kg.