Sugar rally could help India to export 6mil T without subsidy

Benchmark raw sugar prices in New York hit a 4-1/2-year high of 20.37 cents on Tuesday, supported by fund buying against a backdrop of tightening supplies. It settled at 20.17 cents on Wednesday.(File pic shows sugar wholesale in Kolkata, India. - Reuters)

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: India could export 6 million tonnes of sugar in the new season starting in October even without government subsidies, with global prices making overseas sales more lucrative after rising to their highest in 4-1/2 years, industry officials said on Wednesday.

New Delhi is expected to withdraw sugar export subsidies from the new season as a sharp rise in prices makes it easier for Indian mills to sell on the world market, the most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution told Reuters on Tuesday.