[:en]LAHORE: An emergency meeting of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (Punjab Zone) was held in which all important members of the sugar mills of Punjab fully participated.
In a statement, a PSMA-PZ spokesman said that it was unanimously decided in the meeting that it is impractical for the sugar industry to start the next crushing season under such strict regulation, so it has been decided with complete consensus that the next crushing season will not start until the sugar industry is fully de-regulated at the provincial and federal levels. Moreover, the sugar industry also wants to enjoy a free market like wheat, rice and corn crops.
The mills will not even start their operations until the sugar stock held by the sugar mills is exhausted. The sugar industry has been seeking permission to export 1.5 million tonnes of surplus sugar stock for the past several months, of which the government has given permission to export around 0.25 million tonnes of sugar. All Punjab Zone members unanimously decided that the sugar industry would not be able to operate the mills as long as the remaining 1.25 million tonnes of surplus stocks of sugar are present in the warehouses of the mills. All these measures are being taken for the benefit of the farmers because starting the next crushing season in presence of this stock will not be fruitful for the growers regarding their payments. Apart from this, sale of sugar in the market is also very limited.
The sugar industry is the only industry which has been playing its role positively in the form of depositing a lot of foreign exchange in the national exchequer for the development and prosperity of the country without any government subsidy and without being a burden on the national grid for its energy needs.[:]