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Back in time: Setting up a sugar mill costs less than a kg of potatoes
By Hafeez Tunio
Published: May 22, 2014
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Sugarcane mills only have to pay Rs10 to get a licence to set up a mill. An MPA has formed a private bill to revise the fee. Photo: File
KARACHI:
Even after 42 years, the government has yet to amend the law on registering sugarcane mills as it still charges a mere Rs10 for a licence.
The mill owners or those who want to establish sugar mills are great beneficiaries of the ‘Sindh Sugar Licensing Controlling Order, 1972’ under which they have to pay an amount less than a kilogramme of onions or potatoes to get a licence to register a new mill.
According to the law, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the renewal or duplicate licence fee is also a mere Rs5. In a bid to revise the licence fee, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Heer Ismail Soho moved a private bill around a month ago to revise these rates but it has yet to see the light of day.
In her private bill, Soho had suggested increasing the sugar mill licence registration fee from Rs10 to Rs100,000, and proposed to enhance the renewal fee from Rs5 to Rs50,000. “The existing law has nearly exempted the licence fee, giving a benefit to the mill owners,” she said. “It causes great losses to the government.”
On the other hand, the government has yet to make any amendments to the ‘West Pakistan Sugarcane Rules’ that were framed in 1964. According to the rules, every grower who wants to sell his sugarcane at the mill has to pay 60 paisa as tax for every 40 kilogramme (kg). The tax is supposed to be recovered by the management of the mill that is also bound to contribute the same amount and deposit it in a government account.
In her proposed amendment, Soho suggested increasing the tax from 60 paisa to Rs1 for every 40kg to be collected from the growers, and Rs10 for every 40kg from the mill owners. “If any mill owner fails to deposit the cess amount on the prescribed date, the sugarcane commissioner can impose a penalty on the management of the sugar mill,” the amended bill stated.
According to a former sugarcane commissioner in Sindh, Riaz Soomro, the law only looks good in the books. “There is a temporary ban on the establishment of sugar mills but higher authorities use their power to allow influential people to establish their mills,” Soomro admitted, referring to the sugar mills in Ghotki and other districts of the Punjab that were established last year. Hardly any sugar mill follows the rules, said Soomro, adding that, as the sugarcane commissioner, he felt afraid to take action against the owners because of their influences at higher levels.
Meanwhile, the current sugarcane commissioner in Sindh, Nobat Zardari, insisted that the ban on setting up sugar mills has been lifted. Their registration is dealt with by the industry department, he told The Express Tribune.
Zardari insisted that all 36 mills in Sindh follow the rules. “We issue show-cause notices and impose penalties if anyone mill violate the rules,” he said, adding that government was considering to revise the rules and they have sent a summary to the chief minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2014.
By Hafeez Tunio
Published: May 22, 2014
Share this articlePrint this pageEmail
Sugarcane mills only have to pay Rs10 to get a licence to set up a mill. An MPA has formed a private bill to revise the fee. Photo: File
KARACHI:
Even after 42 years, the government has yet to amend the law on registering sugarcane mills as it still charges a mere Rs10 for a licence.
The mill owners or those who want to establish sugar mills are great beneficiaries of the ‘Sindh Sugar Licensing Controlling Order, 1972’ under which they have to pay an amount less than a kilogramme of onions or potatoes to get a licence to register a new mill.
According to the law, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the renewal or duplicate licence fee is also a mere Rs5. In a bid to revise the licence fee, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Heer Ismail Soho moved a private bill around a month ago to revise these rates but it has yet to see the light of day.
In her private bill, Soho had suggested increasing the sugar mill licence registration fee from Rs10 to Rs100,000, and proposed to enhance the renewal fee from Rs5 to Rs50,000. “The existing law has nearly exempted the licence fee, giving a benefit to the mill owners,” she said. “It causes great losses to the government.”
On the other hand, the government has yet to make any amendments to the ‘West Pakistan Sugarcane Rules’ that were framed in 1964. According to the rules, every grower who wants to sell his sugarcane at the mill has to pay 60 paisa as tax for every 40 kilogramme (kg). The tax is supposed to be recovered by the management of the mill that is also bound to contribute the same amount and deposit it in a government account.
In her proposed amendment, Soho suggested increasing the tax from 60 paisa to Rs1 for every 40kg to be collected from the growers, and Rs10 for every 40kg from the mill owners. “If any mill owner fails to deposit the cess amount on the prescribed date, the sugarcane commissioner can impose a penalty on the management of the sugar mill,” the amended bill stated.
According to a former sugarcane commissioner in Sindh, Riaz Soomro, the law only looks good in the books. “There is a temporary ban on the establishment of sugar mills but higher authorities use their power to allow influential people to establish their mills,” Soomro admitted, referring to the sugar mills in Ghotki and other districts of the Punjab that were established last year. Hardly any sugar mill follows the rules, said Soomro, adding that, as the sugarcane commissioner, he felt afraid to take action against the owners because of their influences at higher levels.
Meanwhile, the current sugarcane commissioner in Sindh, Nobat Zardari, insisted that the ban on setting up sugar mills has been lifted. Their registration is dealt with by the industry department, he told The Express Tribune.
Zardari insisted that all 36 mills in Sindh follow the rules. “We issue show-cause notices and impose penalties if anyone mill violate the rules,” he said, adding that government was considering to revise the rules and they have sent a summary to the chief minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2014.
