Indian mills can export up to 2m tonnes of sugar

NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (Reuters): India's sugar mills can easily export up to 2 million tonnes of the sweetener this season as domestic supply prospects improve and local prices show a downward trend, the head of a leading industry body said on Wednesday.

"The supply situation looks better than initially expected, which is why the government should allow mills to export at least a million or a couple of million tonnes of sugar," Deepak Ballani, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, told Reuters in an interview.

Last year, India, the world's biggest sugar producer after Brazil, banned exports of the sweetener for the

2022-23 season, halting shipments for the first time in seven years, as a drought cut cane yields and hit output.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration extended the ban on sugar exports for the second straight season, as India, also the world's biggest consumer of the sweetener, grappled with the prospect of lower cane output.