While Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was lobbying for the export of sugar in the “interest” of farmers due to high production, it was opposed by Food Minister K V Thomas saying the price of sugar was still ruling high in the domestic market and export would hurt consumers.
After repeated requests from Pawar, a Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukerjee allowed export of 5 lakh tonne on March 22. Pawar contention was that the estimated sugar production will be 25 million tonne (MT), which is higher compared to domestic requirement of 22 MT during 2010-11 sugar season.
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