Sugar Export Banned: The continuously increasing inflation in India has reached the pockets of the people. Due to the continuously increasing price of crude oil coming from outside, fuel prices have also increased. Meanwhile, the Government of India decided on May 13 that there will be a complete ban on the export of sugar till September 2026. This means that now sugar will not be sent out of India, only a very small quantity will go to Europe and America. Will this decision curb inflation or not?

Why did the government take this decision?
This decision of the government has come amid the onslaught of inflation, the reason behind it is being said to be El Nino. According to the report of Indian Express, due to El Nino storm, rainfall in India may reduce and heat may increase. Due to which there is a danger of sugarcane cultivation being affected next year. This may especially affect the sugar production of 2027-28.

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Apart from this, the supply of fertilizer may be affected due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The sugarcane crop requires a lot of water and fertilizer. If less fertilizer is available then production may decrease. Not only this, at present the government does not have full confidence in the stock. The government has doubts whether some sugar mills actually have as much stock as is being reported or not, hence the government does not want to take any risk. Shares of many Chinese companies have also fallen, hence the government’s suspicion is also obvious.

Shares of these Chinese companies fell

company	Decline (in percent)
Dhampur Sugar Mills	6.66
Dwarikesh Sugar Industries	5.88
Dalmia Bharat Sugar	5.86
Bajaj Hindustan Sugar Mills	5.22
Uttam Sugar Mills	5.08
Mawana Sugars	4.18
Rajshree Sugars	4.02
Shree Renuka Sugars	2.41

sugar situation in the country
India is estimated to produce about 279 lakh tonnes of sugar in 2025-26. The total availability including old stocks is about 329 lakh tonnes. The country’s requirement is about 280 lakh tonnes. That means there is no shortage of sugar at present. The government had earlier given permission to export 20 lakh tonnes of sugar. Out of that, about 6.5 lakh tonnes of sugar has already been sent out. Now there will be no new exports.

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Will sugar prices increase?
At present, mills are getting more profit by selling sugar in the domestic market. That’s why there was not much export anyway. By imposing the ban the government has only closed the road completely. The biggest concern of the government is that sugar shortage or inflation should not increase in future, hence exports have already been stopped as a precaution.