Apeda Seeks Bids For 1.55lt Sugar Allocation

India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) has invited bids for the allocation of 155,658 tonnes of sugar out of its annual export quota, a senior official said on Monday.

The quantity forms part of an overall government-authorised quota of 250,000 tonnes for 1996/97 (October-September), for which a notice was issued in February, the Apeda official, who did not want to be identified, told Reuter.

"We have issued a new trade notice, but there is no increase or decrease in the total quantity of sugar for exports which remains at 250,000 tonnes," he said.

Apeda had allotted licences for the export of 94,342 tonnes of sugar to private traders and the Indian Sugar and General Industry Export Import Corporation (ISGIEC) until April 25, when the new notice was issued, the official said. After the date, more licences had been allotted, he said. "As on date we have issued licences for export of 142,882 tonnes of sugar, including 35,500 tonnes to ISGIEC for export to Europe and United States under a preferential quota," the official said.

He said in the trade notice issued in February, APEDA had not specified that the allocation would be on a first-come, first-served basis and this had created some confusion, to end which another trade notice was issued.

The move in February was the first export authorisation since the government ended ISIGEC's decades-old monopoly over sugar exports in January.

India produced a record 16.4 million tonnes of sugar in 1995/96 and expects an output of about 14 million tonnes in 1996/97.