India, which has allowed exports of 500,000 tonnes of sugar following a bumper crop, has asked mills to register starting Tuesday, a source in the food ministry said. The official, who is directly involved in the decision making process, said permission would be granted within three days of the applications and the mills would have to ship out within four and half months.
The food ministry will distribute the quota among mills on the basis of their three years' average output, or two years' average production in case a mill has not been in operation in one of three years, said the official who could not be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
If a mill is only a year-old, the government will take into account last year's output. Any mill set up in 2010/11 will not be allowed to export. Of the 500,000 tonnes approved in March for exports, 51,500 tonnes have been set aside for sales to neighbouring countries. The mills have been called to register to export the remaining 448,500 tonnes.
Separately, a government statement said duty-free imports of sugar would be allowed until July 1, extending the deadline that had expired on March 31. Earlier this year, the country had dropped a 60 percent import tax on the sweetener. The statement did not give reasons behind the move. Analysts said the latest move, seen largely as procedural, was unlikely to impact markets as India was a net exporter of sugar this year. India, the world's top consumer of sugar and the biggest producer behind Brazil, is expected to churn out 25 million tonnes in the year to September against an estimated consumption of about 22 million tonnes.
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