Monsoon rains in the top cane growing districts of the western state of Maharashtra and the southern state of Karnataka - which together account for more than half of India s total sugar output - have been as much as 50% below average so far this year, weather department data showed.
Food inflation is not an outcome or prognosis of the monsoon alone but rather a cumulation of several factors as well. Near term solutions like imports and use of buffer stocks are either costly or limited
"Government s priority is to ensure sufficient availability of sugar for consumption, ethanol production and maintaining closing stocks of 6 million tonnes for 2023/24 season," the Department of Food and Public Distribution said in a statement.
India is expected to ban mills from exporting sugar in the next season beginning October, halting shipments for the first time in seven years, as a lack of rain has cut cane yields, three government sources said.