The country will not need any sugar import in the season beginning October as production is expected to be higher, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said. The Indian Sugar Mills Association has pegged sugar output in 2017-18 at 25.1 million tonnes, much higher than the 20.2 million tonnes pegged in 2016-17. The sugar body expects Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, the three top sugar-producing States, to produce over 19.8 million tonnes of the sweetener the next season.

“We don’t need to import sugar next year. Even this year it was not required,” Paswan said on the sidelines of a conference. “We had sufficient stock, but decided to import so that there is no panic in the market which affects consumers’ interest.”