Sugary business: Mill owners demand equal facilities

The sugar mills association of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa demanded facilities equal to those available to other provinces. In a meeting held under the chairmanship of association president Abdul Wasir Khattak, it was decided the crushing season of 2015-16 will not start until the government resolves issues faced by the industry. The association’s members demanded at least a million tonnes of sugar be made permissible for export at a subsidy of Rs15/kilogramme payable at the beginning of the crushing season. Moreover, members of the association stated the payment of a Rs4/kg subsidy has been made to Punjab and Sindh by their respective governments on already exported sugar in accordance with the Economic Coordinate Committee. The K-P government has not paid the amount to the sugar mills’ owners. However, the governments of Punjab and Sindh have paid mills in their respective provinces.