Golden time for India to enter sugar export mkt: Pawar

With projections of surplus sugar production this marketing year, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said the country should enter the export market in a big way and capitalise on higher global rates.

Sugar production in India, the world's second-largest sugar producer and biggest consumer, is estimated at 25-26 million tonne in the 2011-12 marketing year (October-September), as against the annual domestic demand of about 22 million tonne.

The government is yet to announce the export policy for the current marketing year. The country had exported 2.6 million tonne in the previous marketing year, of which 1.5 million tonne was through Open General Licences (OGL), in three equal tranches.

"There is surplus sugar. This is a golden time for India to enter the global market in a big way and get a better price, which will ultimately be provided to cane-growers," Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Sugar industry body ISMA has been demanding the export of 4 million tonne of sugar this marketing year to help mills improve their cash flows.

At the current global price of about $670-680 per tonne, sugar mills will earn a premium of Rs 3.5 per kg from exports of the sweetener vis-a-vis domestic rates if the government allows overseas shipments.

Yesterday, Food Minister KV Thomas had said that an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, might meet on November 16-17 to decide on allowing sugar exports this marketing year.

"We will work out a scheme for export of a certain quantity of sugar, which will be favourable to both the industry and farmers," Thomas had said.

He had said the issue will be discussed in the meeting of the the EGoM on November 16-17. "We have no problem with exports of a certain quantity. We will work out a scheme for November and December," Thomas had said.

Sugar production in India rose to 24.3 million tonne in the 2010-11 marketing year from nearly 19 million tonne in the previous year.

In the current marketing year, the government has pegged output at 25 million tonne, while the industry has estimated production at 26 million tonne.