The government has removed the quantitative ceiling on exports of organic sugar in order to help cash-starved sugar industry. Earlier, the government had kept a ceiling of 10,000 tonnes on organic sugar exports.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in its notification highlighted that the quantitative ceiling for export of organic sugar has been removed till the time export of sugar is permitted freely. However, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) would permit export of organic sugar subject to registration of quantity with DGFT and certification.
The DGFT has also permitted Indian Sugar Exim Corporation to export of 8,100 tonnes of raw sugar to the US under tariff rate quota (TRQ), a quota for a volume of exports that enter the US at relatively low tariffs. After the quota is reached, a higher tariff is applied on additional imports from India.
India, the second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil, holds about 5 million hectares of land under sugarcane with an average yield of around 70 tonne per hectare. India produced 25.14 million tonnes of sugar in the crop season ended September 30, 2013, almost 4.5% less than the previous year because of low rainfall in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2012. The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has estimated Indian sugar production at 24 million tonnes for 2013-14.