Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams 4 September 2017

::National::

Law Ministry opposed transgenders recognition as ‘third gender’

• The NDA government has dropped plans to recognise transgender persons as the ‘third gender’ in the country’s labour law framework.

• In 2014, the Supreme Court had for the first time recognised transgender persons as the ‘third gender’ and asked the Centre and the States to give them equal opportunities in education and employment.

• But now this reform, part of the Labour Ministry’s draft law to codify wages and aimed at protecting transgender workers from discrimination, has been shelved following reservations expressed by the Law Ministry.

• “We had proposed inserting clauses for recognising the rights of transgender workers in all the four labour codes. However, the Law Ministry objected, citing the General Clauses Act of 1897, according to which ‘transgenders’ fall within the definition of ‘person’. It was then decided that there was no need to add a separate clause for them,” a senior Labour and Employment Ministry officer.

• The Wages Code Bill was drafted under an exercise to rationalise the country’s 44 labour laws into four codes covering all the regulations pertaining to wages, industrial relations, social security and safety, and health and working conditions.

• The draft Labour Code on Wages Bill prepared by the Labour Ministry in 2015 had provisions prohibiting discrimination against transgender persons in the payment of wages.

‘RythuVariBhu Survey’ from Sept. 15 to Dec. 15

• The special drive to be taken up for cleansing the land records in the State, 'RythuVariBhu Survey', from September 15 to December 15 would have the main objective of ensuring the proper reach of investment support to farmers, proposed to be implemented from kharif next.

• Official sources involved in the exercise from the beginning stated that the special drive had been necessitated since the data collection about lands being cultivated by the Agriculture Department had no sanctity and it had to have the stamp of Revenue Department.

• The special drive would help deletion of lands from the record of cultivable lands following their alienation for projects, industries, roads, canals, railway lines, power lines, real estate and other non-agricultural purposes.

• A sizeable chunk of such lands are in duplication as they are also shown in the agricultural land extent, the sources noted.

• There’s every chance for irregularities to claim the investment support assistance to be given by the government by ineligible persons or for the land which is not in use for agriculture in the absence of clarity in land records, the sources pointed out.

• As decided already, any dispute over assigned lands, ceiling lands, forest lands, urban lands and other government and private lands would be kept aside as Category-B lands for re-survey later.

• Apart from reconciling the 1B land data of the Revenue Department with the data collected by the Agriculture Department in RythuSamagra Survey with Agriculture Extension Officers during May-July, the special drive will help smooth transition of records related to succession and regularisation of sada 'binamas' without people making rounds of revenue offices”, Agriculture Secretary C. Parthasarathi told The Hindu .

Cabinet rejig

• A massive rejig of the Union Council of Ministers saw Nirmala Sitharman being appointed the Defence Minister of India, the first woman to hold the charge full time (late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had held additional charge of Defence twice during her premiership).

• With this, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the most important of Cabinet sub-committees, has two women on board, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also part of it.

• Apart from the necessity of a full-time Defence Minister at the helm of affairs, the appointment points to a larger push by the Modi government and the BJP towards projecting a politics of women’s empowerment.

• The reshuffle also saw important ministries that have a more direct public interface being given to particular candidates, considered good at the “last mile delivery” of public services.

• Thus, Nitin Gadkari has been given charge of Water Resources and the flagship NamamiGange programme. Piyush Goyal has been entrusted with the Railway Ministry, which has been in focus after a spate of accidents.

• Career bureaucrats like former Home Secretary R.K. Singh, Hardeep Puri and AlphonsKannanthanam, who are considered to be well-versed in the ways of the bureaucracy, have been given portfolios like Power, Urban

• Housing and Tourism. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s elevation to Cabinet rank is a nod towards his performance in the Ujjwala Yojana to provide cooking gas to below the poverty line families.

• The outgoing Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, who resigned taking moral responsibility for recent train derailments, defended the safety record of the Indian Railways even as Power Minister Piyush Goyal was announced as his successor.

• Official figures show the total number of consequential train accidents has declined from 135 in 2014-15 to 107 in 2015-16 and 104 in 2016-17. However, the number of derailments soared to 78 in 2016-17 from 65 in 2015-16 and 63 in 2014-15. Derailment accounted for 75% of the total rail accidents in 2016-17 compared with 46.7% in 2014-15.

• To reduce the casualties, work on (German-make) LHB coaches (with anti-climbing features) has been started. Around 40,000 non-LHB coaches will be converted to LHB coaches in five years. If all these had happened in the past 70 years, the accidents would not have taken place.

Nirmala first full time woman Defence Minister

• First full-time woman Defence Minister faces challenge of crafting a security strategy amid changed India-China dynamics and Kashmir strife

• Nirmala Sitharaman will take over as the first full-time woman Defence Minister, once Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who currently holds additional charge, is back from Japan.

• Ms. Sitharaman has a multitude of challenges to tackle in South Block which did not have a full-time Minister for over 10 months since Manohar Parrikar’s exit in November. The takeover has been delayed as Mr. Jaitley left for Tokyo to participate in the India-Japan security dialogue.

• The first priority will be to take the military leadership into confidence and reassure them that they would get enough time and attention to address critical issues. There has been growing concern and a feeling of being left out among the top leadership. As one senior officer put it, “The Ministry has been going on in an autopilot mode.”

• In addition, she is faced with three or four major challenges. The dynamics on India-China border have changed dramatically since the Doklam standoff which ended. Military experts warn of a new level in the relations and an increase in standoffs.

• With Pakistan, the Line of Control (LoC) has been volatile since the Uri terror attack last year and the ceasefire is as good as off. While not looking weak, Ms. Sitharaman needs to get things under control and keep the peace. On a related front, Kashmir has been on the boil and there is widespread feeling on the need for an outreach while keeping the pressure militarily on the terrorist groups.

• Apart from borders, the other major issue which would need attention is defence procurements and military modernisation. Under Ms. Sitharaman’s leadership, the armed forces will be implementing one of the biggest reforms ever attempted under.

• Under the ‘Make in India’ pitch, the government plans to open up domestic defence manufacturing to the private sector in a big way through the recently promulgated Strategic Partnership model. She has to keep a close watch on concerns over nepotism in these attempts.

• However, in these attempts, the experience Ms. Sitharaman brings from the Commerce and Finance Ministries would come in handy.

• The Ministry has or is in the process of initiating several defence deals running into billions of dollars. The real question is about getting the funds needed to finance them, especially when the economy is slowing down. It has to be seen how she would strike a balance.

NGT instructions on stubble burning

• NGT issues instructions to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan governments on stubble burning

• The National Green Tribunal has directed the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to submit before it specific cases of small farmers being given incentives to desist them from burning crop residue in a bid to prevent air pollution.

• A Bench headed by NGT chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the four northern States to submit within three weeks at least 10 such cases.

• It asked the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries and Special Secretary of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to be present and assure the tribunal that within three weeks they would bring at least 10 cases, of preferably marginal farmers, and provide due incentive, help and means to them, so that they do not follow the traditional methodology of crop residue burning in the field s.

• The direction came after a group of farmers alleged that the Punjab government was not taking any effective steps on the issue except passing orders and not providing infrastructure or any kind of benefits to them

• The green panel had earlier rapped the four northern States for not submitting action plans to prevent pollution emanating from crop burning after the harvest season.

• It had directed the governments of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan to show how the field staff of the departments concerned and the State pollution control boards were going to control pollution caused by crop residue burning.

• The NGT had earlier fixed the environment penalty amounts per incident of crop burning to be paid by small land owners having less than two acres of land at Rs. 2,500, medium land owners holding over two acres and less than five acres at Rs. 5,000 and those owning over five acres at Rs. 15,000.

• It had also directed the State governments to take coercive and punitive action against persistent defaulters and asked them to withdraw the assistance provided to such farmers.

• The green panel had said the five States — Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi — which had issued notifications prohibiting agriculture crop residue burning, should ensure that these notifications were enforced rigorously and proper action was taken against the defaulters.

• The NGT’s order had come on a plea by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad who had sought a ban on burning of agricultural waste and remnants in open fields.

Forests come to life in Odisha

• Women of this western Odisha district have traditionally forayed into forests nearby for harvesting leaves of the creeper called siali to augment a much-needed income. But now that the demand for siali leaves, biodegradable plates made of which are replacing plastic, has grown rapidly in international markets, especially in Europe, villagers here have begun growing siali and other produce with a longer-term view of harnessing dividends from their sale.

• In Nayagarh district, villagers randomly scatter seeds of amla or the Indian gooseberry ( Phyllanthusemblica ), harida or black myrobalan ( Terminaliachebula) and bahada or beleric ( Terminaliabellirica ), known for their medicinal values, in the forests. They believe regeneration of the trees will help bolster their income from forest.

• At present, they walk about five kilometres to pluck siali leaves from forest. If the same leaves were available nearby, their daily toil would be halved and the harvest would be higher. Controlling the harvest will also be more sustainable in the long-term, they feel.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

India-North Korea

• India criticised North Korea’s decision to test a thermonuclear device, saying it views with “deep concern” the test that was in violation of its international commitment, and constituted a threat to India’s national security as well.

• “India deplores the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK (North Korea) this morning,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, adding, “We call upon DPRK to refrain from such actions which adversely impact peace and stability in the region and beyond.”

• In a veiled reference to the nuclear threat from North Korea and Pakistan, the MEA added in its statement that “India also remains concerned about the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies which has adversely impacted India’s national security.”

• The issue is likely to be highlighted during the upcoming visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will travel to India in mid-September.

BRICS SUMMIT

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the coastal city of Xiamen to participate in the ninth BRICS summit amid expectations that a dialogue with Chinese President Xi Jinping could set the tone for a new round of engagement between New Delhi and Beijing.

• Prime Minister Modi and President Xi are expected to hold a one-on-one meeting.

• With military tensions between India and China following the end of a tense face-off at Doklam still fresh in memory, Mr. Xi underscored that the BRICS grouping must uphold the value of diplomacy to resolve “hotspot issues”.

• Without specifying the Doklam crisis, Mr. Xi, speaking at a business forum, stressed that “peace and development” and not “conflict and confrontation” should be the security template of the five emerging countries.

• Mr. Modi had said he looked forward to a meeting with nine other countries, including BRICS partners, during an Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Dialogue, slated for September 5.

• Prior to the meeting, Beijing focused on highlighting the maturing of the BRICS institutional architecture.

• The New Development Bank (NDB) of the world’s five emerging economies has begun construction of a state-of-the-art headquarters in Shanghai, symbolising the rise of the grouping in revamping the world’s financial architecture.

• The NDB’s headquarters will be housed in a landmark building along Shanghai’s iconic Huangpu River, the traditional gateway of China’s overseas trade.

• Highly placed sources engaged in the preparations of the summit highlighted that India opposes any formal docking of China’s Belt and Road Initiative with the BRICS as part of an end-of summit document in Xiamen.

• Nevertheless, India would have no problems in supporting individual bankable projects that are not formally declared part of BRI.

• China’s proposal for establishing a BRICS+ arrangement where the host country of the summit is free to invite non-members is likely to be endorsed at Xiamen.

• Sources said considerable convergence has been achieved to form a BRICS rating agency.

• Besides, formation of a BRICS financial institute has also been widely discussed.

::INTERNATIONAL::

U.K. appeals to Suu Kyi to curb violence

• The U.K. government has joined the international community to increase pressure on Myanmar to tackle the violence against Rohingya Muslims, warning that the treatment of the Rohingya is besmirching the reputation of the country.

• U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement this week: “Aung San Suu Kyi is rightly regarded as one of the most inspiring figures of our age, but the treatment of the Rohingya is alas besmirching the reputation of Burma.”

• “She faces huge challenges in modernising her country. I hope she can now use all her remarkable qualities to unite her country, to stop the violence and to end the prejudice that afflicts both Muslims and other communities in Rakhine.”

U.S.-Pakistan impasse continues

• The diplomatic impasse between the United States and Pakistan continues after U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy review of South Asia. Since then, several high-level bilateral meetings have been rescheduled indefinitely.

• Pakistan’s National Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution rejecting statements made by Mr. Trump and top U.S. commander General John Nicholson.

• Pakistan has also condemned attempts by the Trump Administration to provide more space to India in Afghanistan, considering it a move highly detrimental to regional stability.

• The alleged presence of the Haqqani network and Taliban Shura in Quetta and Peshawar are the core issues of dispute.

• However, more than that, the Trump Administration’s suggestion to provide more space to India in Afghanistan has made Pakistan’s national security apparatus, dominated by the powerful military, fume.

• Pakistani civil and military leadership have both repeatedly asked the U.S. to acknowledge Islamabad’s sacrifice in the war on terror. Pakistan also denies the presence of leaders belonging to the Haqqani network on its soil.

• Interestingly, the Dawn leaks controversy that put the powerful military in confrontation with civilian leadership last year was based on a report which claimed that the government had been telling the military to stop giving support to militant groups.

• However, all said, Pakistan has always been dependent on the U.S., both for aid and for military supplies. With both gone now, Pakistan is looking towards China and Russia.

• After two weeks of hostile reactions, Pakistan is looking to resume dialogue with the U.S. Ambassador David Hale’s visits to several Pakistani high officials are an indication that officials of the two countries are looking for an early resumption of dialogue. Officials in Pakistan claim that contacts at the level of intelligence officials are intact.

N. Korea tests ‘hydrogen’ bomb

• North Korea said that it tested a ‘hydrogen’ bomb which it can mount on a missile, declaring its biggest-ever nuclear detonation a “perfect success.” This sparked a strong rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump who slammed the act “dangerous.”

• Pyongyang residents threw their arms aloft in triumph as a television newsreader hailed the “unprecedentedly large” blast. It “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force.

• But world reaction to the country’s sixth nuclear test was swift and angry. China rebuked its ally and began emergency monitoring for radiation at its border with the North.

• Hours before the test, the North released images of leader Kim Jong-un at the Nuclear Weapons Institute, inspecting what it said was a miniaturised H-bomb that could be fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

• China lost no time in issuing “strong condemnation” of the test, which overshadowed the opening of the BRICS summit in Xiamen by leader Xi Jinping

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described it as “absolutely unacceptable,” while Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed the “strongest condemnation” but urged calm.

• In Seoul, President Moon Jae-in called for new United Nations sanctions to “completely isolate North Korea”, and said the South would discuss deploying “the strongest strategic assets of the U.S. military.”

• U.S. monitors measured a 6.3-magnitude tremor near the North’s main testing site.

::ECONOMY::

Worsening asset quality turns an opportunity for the government to push for consolidation

• Consolidation of public sector banks had been discussed in banking circles for many years now. P Chidambaram, Finance Minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, had highlighted the need for large-sized banks to fund the huge infrastructure requirements of the country as well as compete with global lenders.

• But the UPA Government had always maintained merger proposals should come from the respective bank boards which did not happen. A tongue-in-cheek question that went around was: ‘Which chief executive will propose to merge his bank with another and lose his job?’

• The government has also set up an ‘Alternative Mechanism’, which would comprise a ministerial group, to oversee proposals for mergers among banks last month.

• While announcing the mechanism, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stressed that the decision to create strong and competitive banks will be solely based on commercial considerations and such decisions must start from the boards of the banks.

• The government had also ensured that some key chief executives, who would steer the process of mergers, were in the loop. In the last few months, it had discussed the issue with some top bankers before dashing off official communication to them last week.

• A framework had been conceived in which a bank’s board would first clear the decision to merge and then send the proposal to the ‘Alternative Mechanism’ for its in-principle approval.

• After the in-principle approval comes through, the bank will take steps in accordance with law and SEBI’s requirements . The final scheme will be notified by the government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• Simultaneously, some hurdles have been removed to expedite the process. For example, approval requirement from the Competition Commission has been done away with.

• Bankers involved in discussions with ministry officials said technological synergy and geographical complementarity are the two most important factors that would drive mergers.

• While steps are now being taken to facilitate consolidation, the thinking around bank consolidation began after the current government assumed office — the first week of January 2015, to be precise.

• At the bankers’ retreat, known as Gyan Sangam , the idea of consolidation was first floated. In 2015, however, bank chiefs reeling under bad loan pressure vetoed the idea on the grounds that first they need to put their houses in order.

• While the asset quality problem worsened to became a full-blown crisis, this has not deterred the move to push the consolidation idea further.

• In fact, at the second edition of Gyan Sangam in 2016, Finance Ministry officials wanted to know from banks what their plan B was, if the government stopped capital support. Bankers, who attended this retreat said that the discussion was not ‘whether to consolidate’ but only ‘how to consolidate.’

• Many banks are not in a position to raise equity from the market. Shares of most of them trade at a discount to their book value. Investor appetite for PSU bank shares has been typically low, barring state-run insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India. In other words, there is no Plan B for raising capital, which has been depleted by rising bad loans.

• Further, banks would also need capital for complying with Basel-III norms, apart from supporting business growth.

• The Reserve Bank of India has also played a key part in pushing the idea of consolidation. Revisiting the norms on prompt corrective action (PCA) after many years was an indication. The revised PCA norms, applicable if certain threshold levels are breached, can cramp prospects for a bank’s business growth. There are already some banks that are under the PCA framework.

• Viral Acharya — the youngest deputy governor of RBI — has already made his thoughts clear on mergers among public sector banks. “As many have pointed out, it is not clear we need so many public sector banks. The system will be better off if they are consolidated into fewer but healthier banks,” Mr. Acharya said in one of his speeches. “Historically, bank stress of the order we face has almost always involved significant bank restructuring.”

• The likely merger would create a lot of complexities in terms of lesser core capital, high net NPLs, branch rationalisation and reduction in human resources productivity for the merged entity.

• At present, we’ve an example of the merger of SBI with associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank; post merger, the merged entity fundamentals have weakened significantly.

• SBI, following its merger, has seen non-performing assets rising significantly, from Rs. 1.01 lakh crore (6.94%) to Rs. 1.88 lakh crore (9.97%).

• Of the 20 public sector banks, nine have had impaired loans in excess of 20% and 12 had common equity tier-I capital ratio below 8%. For example, if Bank of Baroda were to take over two small banks such as Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra, its impaired asset level could exceed 18%, analysts said.

• It is to be seen if the big banks can bear the pain of a merger and put their house in order quickly so that the objective of creating a big lender that can fund large projects is fulfilled.

Will accelerate pace of Make In India and Startup India- Commerce and Industry Minister

• Suresh Prabhu said that his priorities as the new commerce and industry minister will include backing measures to generate more jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, helping India attract more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), and increasing India’s share in global exports.

• Mr. Prabhu, who had offered to resign as the Railways Minister last month following two train derailments in four days, will have his task cut out in his new assignment especially to ensure greater job creation and investments under the NDA government’s flagship ‘Make In India’ (MII) initiative to boost local manufacturing.

• He told reporters that measures would be taken to increase the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP and in turn, to boost the GDP as well. “We will accelerate the pace of MII, Startup India and Ease of Doing Business initiatives. We will take measures to generate more employment in manufacturing and other economic activities.

• A Parliamentary panel had recently sought an assessment on how the MII initiative had helped the country’s small- and medium-sized firms, and added that dedicated steps should be taken to ensure that FDI helps such firms. The panel had also sought details on whether the MII initiative has seized the opportunity of India's demographic dividend.

• Prabhu said steps would be taken to ensure greater FDI inflow. Incidentally, the government is considering proposals to relax norms in sectors such as retail, construction and print media.

• In December, Mr. Prabhu will be representing India at the World Trade Organisation’s Ministerial Conference (or MC – the WTO’s highest decision-making body) at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• His appointment comes at a time when India and China have jointly submitted a proposal to the WTO demanding that developed nations should eliminate their “trade-distorting” farm subsidies.

• Besides, he will have to ensure broad support for India’s proposal at the WTO for an agreement on Trade Facilitation in Services, to boost global services trade by eliminating barriers including those curbing the movement of professionals and skilled workers across borders for short-term work.

• However, Mr. Prabhu is no stranger to international trade-related issues as he was the Indian Sherpa to the G-20. Mr. Prabhu will also have to provide leadership to ensure that a ‘future-ready’ Industrial Policy is brought out in October — as assured by the commerce and industry ministry last month.

• His experience as Railways Minister will come in handy as the commerce department is slated to be the nodal body at the central level for transport-related issues across modes with a view to boost India’s foreign trade.

Moving to the faster lane

• We are in times of outstanding significance and consequence for our nation. The start of the GST era is already upon us with the law coming into effect July 1 onwards. Just a few months earlier, sceptics were actively debating whether the roll-out would happen within the stated timeline, or if it would see administrative delays.

• However, here we are, in a post GST India and the implementation of ‘One Nation, One Tax, One Market’ reform has proven sceptics wrong. GST reform is certain to catalyse conformity in every part of the business chain and to expand the tax base in a transparent and efficient manner. There may be initial hiccups for a few months as organisations, large and small, across industry sectors are adapting to this fundamental change.

• Of course, these pain points will be short lived as companies are expected to settle in rapidly into the new GST era. The introduction of GST tax reforms will have the most far-reaching ramifications in the growth of the logistics sector in India.

• From a macroeconomic perspective, a commonly used metric to assess global economies in terms of supply chain efficiency is the ‘logistics costs as a percentage of national GDP.’

• This percentage for India is as high as 14% compared with 8% in developed nations. Digging deeper into the logistics costs percentage and breaking it down into components reveals the actual challenges.

• Compared with global economies, India has some of the cheapest transportation and warehousing costs. However, our inventory carrying costs and losses (from food wastage), is the highest in the world.

• The high inventory carrying costs are due to modest physical infrastructure, inadequacy of technology adoption and complicated tax structure. On the issue of complex taxation, recent actions related to the Goods & Service Tax (GST) denote a major legislative milestone in the long-term evolution of efficient logistics in India.

• There are facets of our industry where the GST is undeniably expected to impact. Interstate movement of goods has become easier with reduced procedures and restrictions at state borders. Dismantling of check posts at state borders on July 1 has remarkably reduced transit times by about 18% for organised players as average truck speeds have increased.

• In the long term, GST offers a unique opportunity for customer organisations to eliminate inherent inefficiencies in the location, movement and inventory holding of goods. GST is the trigger for the user industry to migrate from legacy supply chain models designed for optimising tax payouts, to more efficient models, though these are medium- to long-term plans. Tremendous opportunities hence arise for logistics players.

• The logistics industry supports goods movement for numerous end-user verticals, which requires specialised capabilities and product know how. This complex amalgamation of overall goods movement has placed the onus of preparedness post-GST on the logistics players.

• Moreover, state governments have begun issuing interim transit rules, requiring logistics players to quickly adapt for efficient movement of goods. While these were early hiccups, an anticipated disruption in the medium and long term is the proposed implementation of the e-way bill legislation.

• We believe that the initial draft e-Way bill Rules needed to recognise the process involved in time-sensitive multi-modal transportation. A desirable GST structure will support reduction of bottlenecks. So, we urge regulators to take cognisance of unique features of the logistics industry in formulating final rules.

• The GST is already proving to be a blessing for supply chain costs and lead time to market. At a broader level, numerous initiatives in the area of trade and industry promotion have helped place India favourably in an otherwise volatile global economy.

• Complemented by this encouraging environment, GST is expected to help unlock much-needed efficiencies in the way domestic businesses operate today. Shifting gears and moving on to a faster lane is a matter of time for the logistics industry.

South Indian sugar mills seek duty-free import of raw sugar

• Sugar mills in Tamil Nadu expect a lower sugarcane crop for the coming season (October 2017 to September 2018) and have sought permission for duty-free import of raw sugar.

• President of The South Indian Sugar Mills Association Palani G. Periyasamy told The Hindu that the sugar mills in the State, including 25 in the private sector, have the capacity to produce 30 lakh tonnes of sugar a year.

• In the forthcoming sugar season, the mills expect to produce just 5.5 lakh to six lakh tonnes, which is just about 20% of the capacity. This is because of the failure of the monsoons in the State last year.

• The Union Government permitted duty free import of five lakh tonnes of raw sugar in April and the State got 1.3 lakh tonnes of it. The current sugar stock with the mills is 2.79 lakh tonnes. The monthly off-take is approximately 1.5 lakh tonnes in the State. When the festival season starts, the consumption is expected to double.

• Though some sugarcane-producing States expect a bumper crop, the landing price would not be viable for the mills here. The mills in Tamil Nadu have suffered for the last three years and are under severe financial

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