A committee of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah has reportedly cleared an additional 10-12 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar for exports. This is over and above the 100 lt cap fixed in May when the Centre decided to restrict shipments from June 1.

While the sugar industry had sought 10 lt of additional export quota, the government is said to have agreed to about 1 lt more since some export-oriented high-value refined sugar also got struck after the ban, sources said.

This time, there will be a quota for each mill which have declared to the government their stock position of raw sugar, either at the mill or at the port, estimated at 7-8 lt, sources said. Besides, the refined and white sugar already despatched from mills for export would be given permits, the sources said. The approval of additional quantity also includes some sugar for neighbouring countries on diplomatic grounds, the sources said.

Availability next season

As reported by BusinessLine earlier, the committee of secretaries, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, on July 19 had “in principle” agreed to allow about 12 lt of additional sugar export quota to the mills, after considering its possible impact on the domestic market. In a letter to the Food Secretary, Aditya Jhunjhunwala, the President of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), conveyed the industry’s demand for releasing additional 10 lt quota for mills, citing better sugarcane availability in the next season (October-September).

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Jhunjhunwala had said sugar mills had applied for 17 lt of export quota based on the contracts they had already signed, but the government had granted only 8 lt. Industry sources said while mills have around 4 lt of raw sugar lying at factories, a similar quantity has got stuck at ports due to export restrictions.

The country is believed to have already exported 100 lt of sugar since October 1. Exports of sugar (raw, refined, and white sugar) were placed under a restricted category between June 1 and October 31. In the first week of June, the Food Ministry allocated 10 lt of quota on a pro-rata basis among those exporters who had applied for the permits. But the mills were allocated 8 lt to sell to these exporters after factoring in the quantity in transit.

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