New Delhi: Sugar export quota for the forthcoming marketing year 2022-23 will be announced by the government soon, said Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey.
He was speaking on the occasion of a sugar and ethanol conference organised by the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and Datagro.
The marketing year starts in October and the details about the amount of sugar allowed for export will be announced soon, he said.
For the marketing year 2021-22, India imposed a ban on the export of sugar beyond 10 million tonnes in May but later shipment of additional 1.2 million tonnes of sugar was allowed.
Sugar output in the country after diversion for ethanol production is estimated at 35.5 million tonnes and the domestic demand is 27.5 million tonnes, hence we need to export excess sugar, said ISMA President Aditya Jhunjhunwala.
We have urged the Centre to announce the sugar export policy at the earliest so that we can work in that direction, he said.
Total sugar production in the country is estimated to be 40 million tonnes and around 4.5 million tonnes are expected to be diverted for ethanol production as against 3.5 million tonnes during the preceding season, he said.
