India will export two million tonnes of sugar in the year to September 2009, the farm minister said on Wednesday, substantially more than the 500,000 tonnes forecast by a top trade body two weeks ago.

 

Sharad Pawar said India, the world's second-largest producer and the biggest consumer of the sweetener, would have carryover stocks of up to 9 million tonnes by September 2009, down from 11 million tonnes on October 1 this year. Pawar said mills in the country would produce 22 million tonnes of sugar in the 2008/09 crop year, which is at the top range of industry estimates for 20-22 million tonnes.

 

Trade officials say a late start to cane crushing in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra states would hit output and exports. Unseasonal rains and a dispute over how much mills must pay farmers for cane have delayed crushing in the two states, which produced 60 percent of India's total output in 2007/08.