New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Tuesday said the prospects for the sugarcane crop look bright and called on industry bodies to reach a consensus on their demand to allocate export quotas only to mills willing to ship from their own facilities.

"We have sought the views of the industry. They should develop a consensus among themselves, and then they should come to us," Chopra told PTI.

"I cannot say there is no consensus, but we have not received anything from them. Once that comes, then we can examine all the points and then take a holistic view." Sugar exports are currently on a restricted list, with the government controlling volumes through quotas distributed proportionally among mills.

The All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) recently said the existing quota system, which distributes limited export allocations to all mills based on past production, allows remote or export-reluctant mills to sell their quotas to others, resulting in substantial quantities remaining unexported.

On industry demands to increase the ex-mill price of ethanol from B-heavy molasses and sugarcane juice/sugar/syrup, Chopra said: "We don't recommend it. The committee at the level of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MPNG) does. It examines and recommends." The last government revision for these prices was in November 2022, with current prices set at Rs 60.73 per litre for ethanol from B-heavy molasses and Rs 65.61 per litre from sugarcane juice/syrup, which have remained unchanged since then.

While sugar production in the 2024-25 season ending next month is "looking good as of now," prospects for the new sugarcane crop are "much better than last year," he said.

"We are still waiting for the advance estimates from the agriculture ministry. We will comment once we have the estimates," Chopra said. "Yield and production, everything is looking good as of now. So it should be a good crop." The secretary said the government has lifted restrictions on the diversion of sugar for ethanol production as per their requirements in line with economic considerations.

The government has removed restrictions (the cap) on the diversion of sugar for ethanol production, allowing mills to use sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, and B-heavy molasses for ethanol in the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2024-25 and onward.

"Now we have removed the restriction. So hopefully it should be okay. Plus, broken rice is made available as feedstock, and there should not be any problem now," he said.

Against an allocation of 5.2 million tonnes of broken rice for this year through October, the government expects lifting of 3 million tonnes, he said.

"Because we missed the first two cycles, the allotment happened late, as a result of which the off-take has not been as per our expectation," Chopra said. PTI LUX DRR

Export quota allocation: government seeks industry consensus to restrict entitlements to mills that export from their own facilities. The government allocates sugar export quotas proportionately among mills and is seeking industry consensus to limit export entitlements to mills that ship from their own facilities; it has removed the cap on diversion of sugar to ethanol-permitting use of sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses as feedstock-and notes ethanol pricing revisions are the remit of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas committee.