The plan to guarantee sugar supply through the Prime Minister’s relief program has hit a roadblock. The stumbling block is the escalating bid prices the utility stores grapple with.
In the recent tender, the utility stores observed a considerable hike in sugar bids. This led to an increase in the price gap, which has now reached an additional 35 rupees per kilogram compared to the previous tender.
Enthusiasm From The Sugar Industry:
Worth noting is that among all the bidders, only Jahangir Tareen’s sugar mill expressed interest in the 40-ton tender. This demonstrates a lack of enthusiasm from the sugar industry as a whole.
Interestingly, JDW Sugar Mills stood out with an extraordinary bid for 10,000 metric tons of sugar, proposing a shocking price of Rs. 122 per kilogram.
This unexpected spike in the bidding prices has sparked concerns. As a result, there’s a looming possibility of having to cancel and reissue the sugar tender.
Currently, utility stores are weighing their options.
They are contemplating whether to proceed with the tender cancellation or seek out alternative measures to meet the sugar demand under the relief package.
Utility Stores Corporation had initially released the tender intending to buy 40,000 metric tons of sugar. However, the current stock falls drastically short of this objective, with utility stores having only 4,000 metric tons of sugar in their inventory.
In the previous tender, utility stores were able to acquire sugar at a more affordable rate of Rs. 87 per kilogram.
The significant disparity between the former and current bidding prices underscores the difficulties utility stores are encountering in procuring enough sugar for the relief package.