Mills Urge Govt To Deregulate Sugar Industry

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jul, 2025) All sugar mills have urged the government to completely deregulate the industry.

A general body meeting of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) was held on Sunday, said a press release issued here. A spokesman for PSMA said that the association requests the Federal government to consider deregulation of the sugar sector as has been done by the provinces in the case of sugarcane.

The sugar industry is the second largest agro-based industry in Pakistan after textiles.

During the crushing season, it generates direct and indirect business activity of Rs1000 billion in agriculture, transport, allied industry, wholesale and retail markets. It pays around Rs 225 billion in direct and indirect taxes to federal, provincial and local governments and provides 4$ billion worth of import substitution to the national economy, he added.

The sugar industry utilizes its indigenous energy by using bagasse through which an allied steel industry has also been established and generated power is being exported to the national grid. With conducive policy interventions an industrial chain using byproducts of sugarcane would come up, as happened in many other countries, he added. He said that the current potential of bioethanol was enough to replace 7% of total gasoline consumption in the country.

"Two very important agro based sectors i.e. rice and maize were deregulated sectors and only rice exports are fetching nearly 5 billion Dollars. There is no restriction on import and export of rice as well as maize in Pakistan. Both sectors work on the principles of free economy and are working well."

The spokesman said that rice and maize growers get international prices which encouraged investment in research and development activities resulting in better yields. The government should adopt a permanent policy on deregulation of the sugar sector so that it keeps contributing to the national economy through import substitution, generating overall business activity, employment, tax revenue and substantial foreign exchange earnings due to regular export of sugar surplus, he said.

He said that the sugar industry has pleaded deregulation in several meetings with the government and also in the last Sugar Advisory board meeting held on July 17. He said that formation of a committee by the federal government on deregulation of the sugar sector was a welcoming step and it was hoped that like other agricultural sectors, the sugar sector would be given the opportunity to utilize its full potential for the sake of national development.