India plans more subsidies for sugar exporters

Defying criticism from Brazil and Australia that India’s sugar export subsidies are distorting global trade & hurting their farmers, India is mulling new subsidies for its sugar exporters. The intention behind this move is to provide much needed relief to its sugar mills, which are increasingly being piled up by reserves. The new measures are related to ocean freight and marketing expenses and are said to be in tandem with the WTO rules. The government may ask millers to boost sugar reserves from 3 million tons to 5 million tons and the expenditure on storage to US$ 290 million. In addition, the government has also asked commercial banks to lend Rs 105.4 billion in subsidized loans to help mills pay the outstanding amounts to growers.