India’s sugar policy is slipping into a familiar pattern. When production rises, exports are encouraged. When supply tightens, exports are restricted. As ethanol targets expand, sugar availability comes under pressure again. The government’s latest export ban is being presented as a temporary measure to contain prices and protect domestic supply, but it also reflects a deeper problem: export controls are increasingly becoming the default response whenever competing policy goals begin to collide.

The call to ban sugar exports until September comes amid concerns over domestic supply, inflation risks, and uncertainty linked to the Iran war. Officials are trying to keep domestic sugar prices from rising further, even as higher global oil prices already put pressure on consumers’ pockets. As a widely consumed household staple, sugar is often at the centre of efforts to contain food inflation. But the latest ban also highlights how India’s sugar sector is caught between competing priorities. On one hand, the government wants stable domestic sugar prices. On the other hand, it wants to aggressively expand ethanol blending to reduce dependence on imported crude oil. Both goals rely on the same raw material: sugarcane.

That balancing act becomes harder when production weakens. This year, unseasonal weather in key producing states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka reduced sugar recovery rates, lowering overall output expectations. At the same time, continued diversion of sugarcane toward ethanol blending has further pressured domestic sugar availability. With closing sugar stocks projected to fall to their lowest levels in years,........

© The Statesman