Government Raises Sugar Price to Rs153/kg for Higher Tax Revenue

The federal government has jacked up the minimum ex-mill price of white crystalline sugar for sales tax, spiking the per-kilogram cost by a hefty Rs10 to Rs15. This bold move’s set to rake in an extra Rs90 billion in tax cash to plug the government’s ever-growing fiscal deficit hole.

Media reports spill the tea: the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) dropped a fresh statutory regulatory order (SRO 577(I)/2025) on Tuesday, slamming the new minimum price for homegrown sugar at Rs153 per kilogram, kicking in from April 1. Say goodbye to the old SRO 1027(I)/2021, which had pegged sugar at a measly Rs72.22 per kilogram—that’s ancient history now! The new rate, baked with an 18% sales tax, will get a biweekly check-up using the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) national retail price data.

Here’s the math: the minimum price will be figured by slashing Rs16 off the average national retail price of refined sugar, tracked twice a month (on the 1st and 16th) via the PBS’s Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI).

The FBR is licking its chops, expecting this sugar rush to pump sales tax revenue to at least Rs208 billion, a massive leap from last year’s Rs118 billion. The government’s on a mission to claw back cash from the sugar industry—a big player in Pakistan—to tackle its revenue woes.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries, Haroon Akhtar Khan, is all in, hyping the new tax setup as a way to bring uniformity and streamline collections, hashed out with a thumbs-up from the sugar mills association.

But hold up—some mill owners are crying foul, claiming the extra revenue will only hit Rs15 to Rs20 billion, arguing they’ve already been taxed at Rs100 per kilogram.

Oh, and don’t forget: on top of the sales tax, the government’s pocketing a Rs15 per kilogram federal excise duty on sugar sold to manufacturers and businesses, which has already tossed Rs9 billion into the coffers in the first nine months of this fiscal year.