Govt allows additional 1 MT of sugar exports

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SME Times News Bureau | 27 Mar, 2012
The government has allowed another one million tonnes of sugar exports, bringing the total approved so far to 3 million tonne, reports media.

The decision to allow exports was taken by an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, as the country has 1.64 million tonnes of surplus sweetener, sources said.

The food ministry will frame new modalities for expediting sugar exports, they added.

"EGoM found that the under current set up, exports are not happening at desired pace. So, new modalities have to be worked out so that export speed up and mills are able to pay sugarcane arrears," another source said.

The EGOM also decided to continue exports of wheat and non-basmati rice, which was allowed under Open General Licence (OGL) in September last year, on record production.

"Export of wheat and non-basmati rice will continue under OGL. We have foodgrains stock that is more than double the buffer norm. We have adequate quantity for export," Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told reporters after the meeting.

Besides wheat, rice and sugar exports, the EGoM has approved extension of export of 6,50,000 tonnes of wheat products till March 2013.

In sugar, the government had allowed 2 million tonnes of exports in 2011-12 marketing year (October-September) in two equal tranches as the country's sugar output is all set to exceed the domestic consumption of 22 million tonnes.

The bumper sugar production has, however, led to a huge cane price arrears to farmers. Till February of the 2011-12 marketing year, the cane price arrears has reached to Rs 8,409 crore.

India is the world's second-largest producer of sugar and is also the biggest consumer. It had produced 24.3 million tonnes and exported 2.6 million tonnes in the previous marketing year.

The food ministry had recently revised upwards the sugar production estimates to about 25.2 million tonnes from the earlier projection of 24.6 million tonnes for 2011-12.