New Delhi, 14 May 

India has banned the export of sugar with immediate effect until 30 September this year, a move that would help enhance domestic availability and contain prices.

Earlier, the exports were in a restricted category, requiring a license for outbound shipments.

"The export policy of Sugar (Raw Sugar, White Sugar and Refined Sugar)... is amended from 'Restricted' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect till September 30, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification dated May 13.

This order, however, does not apply to sugar being exported to the European Union and the US under the CXL and Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) arrangement, respectively. The arrangements allow exporters to ship specified quantities of sugar to these destinations at significantly reduced or zero customs duties.

The DGFT's order is also not applicable to the shipments under the advance authorisation scheme, government-to-government exports and consignments already in the physical export pipeline.

For the 2025-26 sugar marketing year (October to September), the Food Ministry initially allowed 15 lakh tonnes in exports, then opened an additional 5,00,000-tonnes pool, of which only 87,587 tonnes were approved.

So, nearly 16 lakh tonnes of sugar export were allowed.

The food ministry and sugar mills were expecting 7.5-8 lakh tonnes of shipments in the entire 2025-26 marketing year.

India's sugar production rose 7.32 per cent to 27.52 million tonnes till April in the 2025-26 marketing season, driven by higher output in Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to industry body ISMA.

ISMA projected total production for the 2025-26 marketing season at 29.3 million tonnes after ethanol diversion, up from 26.12 million tonnes recorded in 2024-25.

Banning exports of a commodity helps in preventing a rise in prices, amid inflation concerns and uncertainty caused by the West Asia conflict.

In October 2022, India imposed an export restriction on sugar, and then it was extended from time to time.

The world's second-largest sugar producer keeps exports under government control through quotas distributed proportionally among mills.