Sugar mills to ask for permission to export from June 1 — rational step, says Balrampur Chini

Beginning June 1, the government has directed sugar mills to apply for clearance for export dispatches. The moves comes as the government imposed restrictions on sugar exports for the first time in six years.

It has capped exports of the country's sugar season — which ends in September — at 10 million tonnes in a move aimed at preventing a rise in domestic rates. From June 1, sugar mills won't be able to despatch exports within 30 days of approval from the government.

According to an official order, the Centre has also asked exporters to seek its permission for any overseas shipments between June 1 and October 31.

Indian mills' exports of the sweetener to foreign markets have hit record levels in the recent past.

The restriction on sugar exports is a rational step by the government, Balrampur Chini Mills CFO Pramod Patwari told CNBC-TV18.

"The exports from the country in the ongoing season were expected to be in the region of around 9-9.5 million tonnes... In any case, exports were not expected to be happening beyond 10 million tonnes, but the most positive message that the government is giving is the fact that they are absolutely comfortable, even at an inventory level of 6 billion tonnes by the end of September... This is a very good step,” he said.