Sugar export touches 13.51 lakh tonne in first half of 2011-12

Country had exported 28.14 lakh tonne in entire 2010-11 marketing year

India exported 13.51 lakh tonnes of sugar in the first six months of the 2011-12 marketing year ending September, the Parliament was informed today.

The country had exported 28.14 lakh tonnes in the entire 2010-11 marketing year (October-September).

Food Minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that "about 13.51 lakh tonnes of sugar has been exported till March, 2012 of the current sugar season".

He quoted from the data provided by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), Kolkata.

On May 2, the government decided to remove quantitative restrictions on exports. The decision was notified on May 11. Later, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Commerce Ministry issued a notification asking millers to register their contracts with it.

Before this decision, the Centre had allowed two million tonnes of exports in two equal tranches.

Sugar production of India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, is estimated at 26 million tonnes in 2011-12 against 24.3 million tonnes in the previous year. The annual domestic demand of sweetener is expected at
22 million tonnes.