- FBR officials placed at Mills’s facilities.
- Sugar prices fall from RS185 to RS165 after action.
- PM closely monitoring repression in the sugar sector.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif authorized the Federal Income Board (FBR), the Federal Research Agency (FIA) and the Intelligence Office (IB) on Sunday to take strict measures against the actors of the sugar sector accused of accumulating RS140 billion in unjustified gains in a short period, The news reported.
As part of a two -pointed strategy, the government has deployed FBR officials and intelligence at Sugar Mills facilities to monitor operations and stop illegal activities. The authorities have also gathered critical financial data to expose long -standing irregularities and bad practices within the industry.
During the three months of the crushing season, the government was able to identify the sugar factories involved in bad practices in addition to the identification of hoarders, satta members (bets) sugar mafia and several owners of mills involved in the manipulation of sugar production, stocks and their price.
According to a well -conceived strategy, as the first step based on the available data with respect to purchases, sugar lifting, the available balance of private distributor stocks with factories, as well as payments made through their bank accounts personally maintained or false accounts maintained in the name of the servers, the government has a clear visibility of false buyers and amounts transferred to the false accounts and Benami sugar factories.
This has adequately allowed the government to initiate criminal procedures under the laws against money laundering, anti Benami law, tax evasion and antihasive laws that are a recognizable crime.
The operations without flinching throughout the country against the most politically connected sugar lobbies have sent a strong message to sugar monopolors and the “Satta mafia” that the government is not in humor to avoid anyone regardless of political affiliation and the powerful status. Shehbaz is monitoring the action against the sugar sector.
In the second phase of the strategy, if the market forces do not respond, depending on the undeniable evidence available, the Government contemplates a repression of the mills directly involved in the bad practices and the facilitation of irregularities when hiding the actions in their mills and receiving payments through false bank accounts and Benami.
As a consequence of the first phase of the strategy, an immediate downward trend in sugar prices has been witnessed. It is pertinent to mention that on March 13, that is, before repression, the price of sugar in LaHore and adjacent areas was around RS175-185/kg; However, the price fell to RS165/kg for March 16.
Previously, an inflationary tendency was witnessed in sugar prices. It can be added that at the beginning of the crushing season, on November 22, 2025, the national average sugar price was RS137/kg, which increased to RS173/kg on March 14.
In the main urban centers such as Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Quetta, the price of sugar had reached at/around RS180-185.
The SATTA mafia was speculating that the price of sugar will increase to RS200 in the coming months and will reach RS220 for the end of the season in November 2025.
Due to this inflationary trend, investors and concessionaires were investing largely into sugar shares for unexpected profits in a short time.
It is known that currently, sugar representative organisms are trying to negotiate exal prices with the government, taking into account the average price of sugarcane in the crushing season.
“There are estimates that Millers devised a link with wholesalers, distributors and distributors and manipulated prices in the domestic market. The estimated sugar prices at an ex mill price and then with the imposition of sales tax have been resolved in RS140 to RS145 per kg. By incorporating other costs, the maximum sugar price should not be more than RS155-160 per kg, ”confirmed the main official sources while talking with The news Sunday.
As an important development, the relevant authorities have proposed a paradigm shift in the regulatory mechanism to the government to introduce and modify the laws to confiscate the seized sugar of the warehouses instead of selling it at an official price and returning the money.
Official sources said the prime minister had given the direction of the repression of the sugar mafia that would continue without any intervention.
The FIA, IB and FBR have carried out operations and have found evidence and tests of hoarders, warehouses, wholesalers and distributors who lead to an alleged manipulation of the fixation of internal prices.
