India on Saturday allowed 6 million tonne of sugar to be exported during 2022-23, a move aimed at restricting unlimited overseas shipments and ensuring domestic availability.
The Union government has put various curbs on sugar shipments, despite robust output, mainly to check rising inflation and channel more cane towards domestic ethanol production, but the export quota for the new sugar season was more or less in line with market forecasts, analysts said.
Amending the export policy for sugar season beginning November 1, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) in a notification to mills stated that the government has “decided to allocate sugar mill wise export quota of 60 lakh million tonne (6 million tonne) of sugar for export for sugar season 2022-23, with effect from November 1, 2022”.
The limits on exportable quantity comes amid the Union government’s efforts to rapidly scale up its ethanol-blending programme. Mixing of petrol with ethanol, which is made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar, will help lessen the amount of oil India imports
The country has advanced of the target year for 20% ethanol-blending by five years to 2025. Ethanol made from molasses, a sugar byproduct.
The notification setting the export quota stated that “all grades of sugar like raw material along with refined sugar can be exported by a sugar mill, refinery, exporter up to the notified limit”.
{{/usCountry}}The notification setting the export quota stated that “all grades of sugar like raw material along with refined sugar can be exported by a sugar mill, refinery, exporter up to the notified limit”.
{{/usCountry}}Sugar mills unwilling to sell overseas can exchange their export quota either partially or wholly with the domestic quota of any other sugar mill within 60 days from the date of issuance of Saturday’s order.
This will cut transportation costs and ease movement of the sweetener from one state to another, the government said.