March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Concerned authorities say that the price of sugar has been rising because the government itself has not given permission to the Salt Trading Corporation Limited to purchase of sugar since the last one and a half years.

About 15 months ago, Salt Trading had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies seeking permission to purchase 50,000 metric tons of sugar with customs duty exemption. Although the Ministry of Industry has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking release of budget, the letter is gathering dust at the finance ministry.

The Salt Trading Corporation has almost run out of stock of subsidized sugar. As a result, the price of sugar has gone out of control in the market.

According to spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Raj Bhandari, the state-owned company currently has only 100 metric tons of sugar in stock. He said that they have been selling sugar only to retail customers to avoid running out of stock as the stock is not enough even for a day if it is sold as per the market demand.

Middlemen and big businessmen are taking advantage of the state-owned company’s inability to supply subsidized sugar in the market.

The retail price of sugar has increased by Rs 15 per kg to reach an all-time high of Rs 100 since last December. Although the price has continued to rise, the government has remained a mute spectator. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said it has repeatedly requested the finance ministry to release budget but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance claims that the process to release budget is underway.

Pavitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, said that they are facing problems in selling sugar to the retailers due to the uncontrolled price hike.

Import of sugar increased from Rs 3.12 billion in fiscal year 2075/76 to Rs 12.26 billion in the last fiscal year. Consumers have been complaining that the state-owned company is not even getting permission to buy sugar when large amount of sugar is being imported by the private sector in Nepal.