For most of India's middle class, the E20 debate seemed like a car problem. Would their five-year-old hatchback run on petrol blended with 20 percent ethanol, or would they need a new vehicle? That was the worry till last month. 

Nobody was watching the sugar bowl. 

In three weeks, retail sugar has jumped from around Rs 45 a kilogram to Rs 70 in several markets — a nearly 55 per cent spike that has hit kitchens, sweet shops and small traders just as the festive season begins. In Kolkata, neighbourhood kirana stores that were selling loose sugar at Rs 65 a kilogram three days ago say they cannot find stock below Rs 70 today. Wholesale rates in the city have already touched Rs 65. Traders warn that jaggery, batasa and nakuldana — staples of the festive plate — are next in line. 

The government's answer has been to reverse a decade-old script. Till May this year, India — the world's second-largest sugar producer — was exporting the commodity. This month it did something it has not done in nearly ten years: it allowed duty-free imports, scrapping a 100 percent customs duty to........

© National Herald