Instead of passing the benefits on to the consumers the windfall was shared by the big wigs without any toiling.
According to the fortnightly mill-wise statement issued on January 1,2006 by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, the names of sugar mills and quantities of raw sugar imported by them are as follows:
JDW 8,560 tonnes, CSK (Phalia) 8,460 tonnes, Fatima sugar mills 46,285 tonnes, Hamza sugar mills 16,003 tonnes, Kohinoor sugar mills 1,346 tonnes, Noon sugar mills 1,020 tonnes, Shahtaj sugar mills 3,910 tonnes, Shakarganj sugar mills 41,737 tonnes, Al-Abbas sugar mills 2,436 tonnes, Al-Asif sugar mills 3,185 tonnes, Al-Noor sugar mills 4,221 tonnes, Bawany sugar mills 8,388 tonnes, Dewan sugar mills 12,678 tonnes, Dewan Khoski 6,393 tonnes, Faran sugar mills 5,368 tonnes, Habib sugar mills 29,294 tonnes, Mehran sugar mills 530 tonnes, Mirpurkhas sugar mills 2,465 tonnes, and Shahmurad sugar mills 10,440 tonnes.
Since the raw sugar was imported between 180 and 200 dollars per tonne, it cost the importer around Rs 16 per kilogram. The importers are now selling the stock with locally produced sugar when ex-factory rates are ranging between Rs 38 and Rs 40 per kg.
With the exception of one or two, all these mills are members of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), but its office-bearers pose as if unknown people imported raw sugar and, hence, were untraceable.
Sources said the record of the mills involved in import of raw sugar is available with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which directly monitored the import last year.
Since the beneficiaries were bigwigs, none of the government departments were ready to question them.
These big names of sugar industry not only imported raw sugar on the first-come-first-served basis and piled up stocks without any duty and withholding tax, but also got adjustment of 15 percent sales tax paid at the import stage from the government.