The Centre is likely to allow an additional 1.2 million tonnes (mt) of sugar exports in the current season ending September 2022 taking into account higher-than-anticipated domestic production, according to government sources.

Sources said a group of ministers approved the additional quota of sugar exports in a recent meeting. A notification in this regard will be issued soon. The nodal food ministry is working on modalities to allocate the additional quota.

The country’s total sugar production is expected to increase by 5,00,000 tonnes to 36 mt in the 2021-22 season, compared to the earlier estimate of 35.5 mt, the sources added.

Even after the export of an additional quota of sugar, the country would be left with around 6-6.8mt of closing stocks.

Sources also mentioned that there is global demand for Indian sugar even as the international market has seen some correction recently and raw sugar prices have fallen.