ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) on Sunday in a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Production (MoIP) stated that it will sell sugar to the ministry Rs70 per kilogramme (kg) instead of the Rs63 per kg price demanded by the ministry.
According to the letter, sugar mills are willing to provide 60,000 tonnes of sugar at Rs70 per kg, and have rejected the Rs63 per kg price demanded by Utility Stores Corporation (USC) and the MoIP.
PSMA further claimed that the demand for reduced prices from USC and MoIP held no lawful basis and hence the association was not bound to abide by it.
Earlier on June 13, In pursuance of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order, the MoIP directed the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) to ensure the provision of sugar to the USC at reduced rates.
According to official sources, the USC had earlier written a letter to the PSMA, seeking the provision of sugar at Rs63 per kg so that it could be sold at Rs70 per kg to the consumers.
In a letter to PSMA, the MoIP quoted the IHC order, stating, “This order is subject to the sale of sugar to non-commercial consumers at the rate of Rs70 per kilogramme. PSMA and the federal government must ensure that sugar is available and sold to non-commercial consumers at the said price until the next date is fixed.”
It also directed the association to ensure that the commodity was sold at the specified price in other retail outlets as well.
The IHC is also due to hear a petition filed by sugarcane farmers with regard to the inquiry commission report on the sugar crisis on Monday, June 15.
