Government Raises Sugar Import Tax; Raw Sugar to Attract Import Tax

New Delhi: Government has raised the import tax on sugar to 40 per cent from 25 per cent to help prop up falling local prices and protect local farmers who have not been paid by money-losing mills, the government said in a statement said on Wednesday.

Government also slapped the tax on imports of raw sugar that refiners turn into whites, or refined sugar, to sell in world markets.

Five straight years of surplus output has led to a free fall in prices, hitting mills' financials. Sugar mills owe about Rs 20,100 crore to farmers.