Sugar exporters have complained about the government’s decision to limit overseas sales to 10 million tonnes for the current season, which runs from October 2021 to September 2022. The order issued on May 24 directed mills to apply for permission to export sugar online beginning June 1. After taking into account the quantities already shipped, the government announced a 1 million tonne quota for exporters and a 0.8 million tonne quota for sugar mills.

Exporters reported that the online portal abruptly stopped accepting applications at 2 p.m. on June 3rd.
“It was not fair to apply the cut-off date without prior notice to exporters and putting it in the public domain when the government was aware that many exporters could not even lodge the application because the system was not working,” the All-India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) wrote to food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey on June 6.