Government relaxes rules for sugar exports

NEW DELHI: The government today relaxed norms for sugar exports by doing away with the registration requirement with the Commerce Ministry.

The industry said the move would help expedite sugar exports from India, which is saddled with surplus stock.

"The requirement of registration of quantity with DGFT for export of sugar has been dispensed with," Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

Earlier, prior registration of quantity with DGFT was mandatory.

"Industry welcomes the government's move to remove the requirement of Registration Certificate (RCs) for exporting sugar. In the current environment when exports are unviable, RC requirement could have delayed exports. So, this is a good decision," Indian Sugar Mills Association ( ISMA) Director General Abinash Verma said.

At present, the exporters have to take RCs from DGFT, which are issued for a maximum 50,000 tonnes.

Sugar output of India, the world's second-largest producer, in 2015-16 marketing year (October-September) is likely to exceed domestic demand for the sixth consecutive year.

India exported 1.26 million tonnes of sugar during October 2014-April 2015 of the ongoing marketing year.

Although exports are not viable now due to sharp decline in global prices, the government is trying all options, including barter trade, to push export of 4 million tonnes of surplus sugar to help cash-starved domestic mills make payment of dues over Rs 14,000 crore to cane farmers.

The country is estimated to produce 28 million tonnes of sugar in 2014-15 marketing year, against the annual demand of 24.8 million tonnes. There is still a surplus stock of 10 million tonnes in the country.

The government is providing subsidy of Rs 4,000 per tonne on export of raw sugar.