Govt may allow private sector to set up sugar refinery

ISLAMABAD: The government is all set to give a go-ahead to the private sector to set up a sugar refinery at the Gwadar port to meet local demand in the wake of high prices of the sweetener in the international market, official and industry sources confided to The News on Tuesday. Yes, the Ministry of Industries is considering allowing the private sector to set up a sugar refinery at the Gwadar Port to deal with sugar crisis in the long run, an official of the Ministry of Industries and Production told The News but requested not to be named. It is not the business of the government to set up an industry or run an industrial unit but we will facilitate and encourage the private sector to do business by setting up industrial units, the official said. The federal cabinet has allowed private sugar millers the import of 0.35 million tons of raw sugar before the start of crushing season in October or November as the food and agriculture ministry anticipates a sugar shortfall of 1.5 million tons in 2009-10. There are 82 sugar mills for crushing cane in the country but no sugar refinery for processing imported raw sugar for public consumption. Imported raw sugar is only processed by mixing it with cane juice during the crushing season. Besides import of 350,000 tons of raw sugar by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), the government would import 70,000 to 100,000 tons through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) which would be processed either by local mills or a refinery in Dubai, said a well-informed official of the food ministry. It is right time that the government gets rid of the shackles of PSMA by allowing the setting up of a sugar refinery for processing raw sugar, the official said.