Kathmandu, July 7 -- Domestic sugar mills have started putting pressure on the government to extend the quantitative restriction on sugar imports by two months, claiming that they still have mountains of unsold sugar in their stock.

Last September, the government bowed to pressure from the sugar mills and imposed an import quota on 100,000 tonnes of sugar annually. Although the quantitative restriction was supposed to last till mid April, the government extended it to mid-July.

With the cut-off date approaching, sugar producers are lobbying the government to extend the quantitative restriction by another two months. "We have requested the government to continue the restriction until mid-September so that we can clear the stock of unsold...