Sugar has not been available at the sale outlets of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) for the last few months, while rice and other commodities have been selling at the USC outlets at lower prices, USC Multan zone officials said on Wednesday.
Grocers Association President Multan Afaq Ansari, however, said that sugar was available in abundance in the local market at reasonable price.
He said that they were obtaining sugar from markets at Rs 55/kg and selling at Rs 60 per kg at retail outlets in the open market.
USC officials said that they did not receive supply of sugar from the head office and thus the commodity was missing from their sale points.
They said that USC used to obtain sugar supply through Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) but now the open tender process was being adopted which had not yet ensured sugar supply to USC outlets.
They said that 90 USC stores were operating in Multan district and they had been selling sugar at Rs 57/kg before their stocks exhausted few months ago.
They, however, added that Ghee, flour, pulses, rice and other commodities were available at a price far lower than the open market price.
The officials said that the companies had reduced prices of branded rice while the rice in USC packing was available at only Rs 67 per kilogram which in local market was carrying a much higher price tag.
