Jahangir Tareen and Khusro Bakhtiar Main Beneficiaries of Sugar Crisis as per FIA Report

The report regarding the sugar crisis in Pakistan was made public on Saturday by none other than Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. Jahangir Tareen and Khusro Bakhtiar Main Beneficiaries of Sugar Crisis as per FIA Report.

The Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted two high-powered committees headed by Director General of Federal Investigation  Agency (FIA) and comprising a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau and Director General of Anti-Corruption Establishment of Punjab to investigate causes behind the crisis and price hike of those commodities.

Jahangir Tareen and Khusro Bakhtiar Main Beneficiaries of Sugar Crisis as per FIA Report

According to the report, the major beneficiaries of the crisis are, The ex-general secretary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jahangir Khan Tareen and Federal Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar.

After the creation of committee Prime Minister had repeatedly rectified to expose and penalise those found responsible for the Sugar and Wheat crisis for the reoccurrence of such acts.

The Report:

In the 32 page report, it was revealed that the Price Hike on sugar by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Government allowed increase in export price by 30%.

“The exporters of sugar gained benefits in two different ways: First they were able to gain subsidy and secondly, they made a profit from the increasing sugar prices in the local market,” according to inquiry committee, led by Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The committee report unveiled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s former secretary-general Jahangir Khan Treen and Federal Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar got away with Rs 1.03 Billion subsidy on the export of sugar, paid out from the taxpayer’s money, which was equal to 41% of the total subsidy The Government of Punjab paid to sugar lords according to report.

“Sugar Mill Owners who availed maximum subsidy had political clout and influence in decision making and they tried to gain maximum benefits in a very limited time.” unveiled the report.

Some points to note on sugar inquiry report
1..My companies exported 12.28% while my market share is 20% so less than I could Have
2.Export was on first come
First serve basis
3.Of the total Rs 3 bn subsidy rec’d Rs 2.5 Bn came when N was in power and I was in opposition ? pic.twitter.com/T25Cu2FT60

— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) April 4, 2020

The decision of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Government to allow the export of sugar which led to the hike in retail price, according to committee’s main findings. The federal and provincial governments disregarded the advice of low sugar stocks and an increase in prices and continued.

Before the decision to permit export of 1 million metric tons of sugar, the per kilo sugar price was Rs 55 in 2018 which risen to Rs 71.44 per kilo in June 2019 – an increase of Rs16.47 per kg or 30%, as unveiled.

The report stated that despite the Ministry of Industries and Production secretary’s letter to provincial secretaries in October 2019 regarding the hike in prices, no decision was taken. The Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) in its meeting on June 20, 2019, did not ban the export, as per the report.

“To establish manipulation cartelization of sugar mills solid/ concrete evidence is required but very few control the industry.” Six groups control about 51% of the production of sugar in Pakistan, as revealed in the report.

The Particulars of the Report!

JDW Group (Jahangir Khan Tareen) holds 19.97% of production, RYK Group (Khusro Bakhtiar) holds 12.24% of production, Al Moiz group holds 6.8% of production, Tandianwala Group 4.9%, Omni Group 1.7% and Sharif Family controls 4.5% of products mentioned in report.

“The calculation of the ex-mill price provided by PSMA can’t be relied unless full audit of all determinants of the e-mill price is calculated in a financial audit, mentioned in inquiry report. The Punjab Government also gave subsidy for sugar export when the price of sugar was increasing said in the report.

The ex-general secretary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Jahangir Treen stated in his tweet; “Out of Rs 3bn subsidy to sugar mills, Rs 2.5bn was sanctioned when the PML-N was in Government.”

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