New Delhi: The centre has not received any communication in the sugar season 2023-24 from the Ministry of External Affairs to permit an export order of sugar for Maldives, said the Minister of State for the Ministry of Rural Development and Consumer Affairs, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
His statement came in reply to a question by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran on whether the Minister of Consumer Affairs is aware of the bilateral trade agreement between India and Maldives that exempts essential commodities including sugar for export to Maldives and if the government has received any communication from Ministry of External Affairs recently to allow an export order of sugar to Govt of Maldives.
In response, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti told Parliament that the Government has notified the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between India and Maldives vide Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s Notification No. 14/201 5-2020 dated 12.07.2021. He said, “The Department of Food and Public Distribution has not received any communication in sugar season 2023-24 from the Ministry of External Affairs to permit an export order of sugar to the state-owned STO of the Government of Maldives”.
“No request has been received till date in the current season from the Ministry of External Affairs to allow export of sugar to the Maldives”, Niranjan Jyoti told Parliament. The minister said that further, given the anticipated decline of sugar production in the current sugar season 2023-24; and to ensure sufficient availability of sugar for domestic consumption at a reasonable price, export of sugar (raw/white/refined/ organic) has been kept in 'Restricted’ category till further orders.
