October 16: The government has failed in its efforts to supply duty-free sugar to the consumers before Dashain. The government was unable to import sugar before Dashain as India did not show any interest to supply sugar to Nepal through the G2G process. Another reason for the failure was the delay in granting permission to import sugar to the Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and the Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC), which are responsible for the import and distribution of duty exempted sugar in the country.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies had sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance in July seeking permission to proceed with the process to import 60,000 metric tons of sugar with customs exemption, especially for the festive season. However, the Ministry of Finance did not respond to the letter.

The STC and FMTC could not import sugar before Dashain due to the delay in getting approval for import.

In mid-September, the Finance Ministry granted permission to the Salt Trading Corporation and Food Management and Trading Company to import 20,000 tons of sugar at 50 percent customs exepmtion. Although Salt Trading Corporation and Food Management and Trading Company were assigned the responsibility to import 10,000 tons of sugar each, both these companies have admitted that they will not be able to import sugar before Dashain.

Kumar Rajbhandari, spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, said that it is certain that subsidized sugar cannot be brought before Dashain.

He blamed the Finance Ministry for giving approval to purchase sugar when it was already too late.

He said that a 15-day notice was issued to import sugar on a fast-track basis and a company was also selected but it was not possible to bring sugar because India did not supply sugar. According to Rajbhandari, it would be too expensive to bring sugar from other countries.

At present, India has not exported sugar to other countries, due to which the price of sugar has become expensive in the international market.

“When we bring it from other countries, we have to sell it here at a high price. That is why we have reached the decision not to bring sugar for now," he said.

The FMTC had issued a 45-day notice which will expire after mid-November. By that time, the festival of Dashain will already have finished.

With the start of the festive season, the government took the initiative to bring 50,000 metric tons of sugar from India through the G2G (Government to Government) process, but it was not successful.

Meanwhile, India banned sugar exports a few months ago after the price of sugar started increasing in its domestic market. India is one of the top sugar exporting countries in the world.

According to Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal, Nepal had written to India in mid-July asking for 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy. India has not yet sent a reply.

“We requested food grains from India to prevent shortage in our market. However, India has not given any response,” said the minister, adding, “A few weeks ago, we again took a diplomatic initiative with the Indian government. The Indian side agreed to supply sugar but it is not certain when.”