The PSMA refused the government's order to supply sugar at the recommended rate

Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has refused to supply sugar to utility stores at the government recommended rate of Rs63, saying that the recommendation "has no legal standing".

The Ministry of Industries and Production on Saturday wrote a letter to PSMA in the pursuance of an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order.

The ministry had said that the PSMA should provide sugar to the USC at Rs63 per kilo so that it could sell the commodity at Rs70 per kilo to the masses, as directed by the IHC.

In a letter written in response to the ministry on Sunday, the PSMA said it agrees to supply sugar at Rs70 per kg under the interim court order.

"We are ready to give sugar at a rate of Rs70 per kg to non-commercial establishments for domestic use," the association said, adding that about 60,000 tonnes of sugar will be delivered to markets.

It said that until under the court order, the federal government can make arrangements to procure the sugar at that rate. “Until the arrangements are finalized regarding sugar price, the sugar mills will supply sugar at Rs70 per kg for commercial use,” the association wrote in the letter.

On June 10, the PSMA and 17 other mill owners – including PTI stalwart Jahangir Khan Tareen – challenged the inquiry commission report in the IHC, alleging that legal formalities were not fulfilled during investigations.

In its report, the commission accused the sugar mill owners of earning illegal profits to the tune of tens of billions of rupees through unjustified price hikes, benami transactions, tax evasion, misuse of subsidy and purchasing sugarcane off the books.