India’s sugar exports surged by 64.9 per cent to $4.6 billion in the financial year 2021-22 from $2.79 billion recorded in the previous year, the government data showed on Monday.
As per data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), India exported sugar to 121 countries across the world during the financial year ended March 2022.
Sugar export has increased by 291 per cent since Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government came into power in 2014. In 2013-14, sugar exports stood at $1.17 billion. This rose to $4.6 billion in 2021-22, which is 291 per cent higher when compared with the exports during 2013-14.
During 2021-22, sugar exports surged by 64.90 per cent year-on-year despite logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic in the form of high freight rates and container shortages, among others.
India is the world’s second-largest sugar producer after Brazil. Since 2010-11, India has consistently produced surplus sugar, comfortably exceeding the domestic requirements. The record exports would enable the sugar producers to reduce their stocks and would also benefit the sugarcane farmers, as the increased demand for Indian sugar is likely to improve their realisations, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
In 2021-22 (April-February), India exported sugar worth of $769 million to Indonesia, followed by Bangladesh ($561 million), Sudan ($530 million) and UAE ($270 million).
Somalia, Saudi Arab, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nepal, China, USA, Singapore, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, New Zealand, Denmark, Israel, Russia and Egypt were the major importers of Indian sugar during the year.Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka account for nearly 80 per cent of the total sugar production in the country. The other major sugarcane-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab.
