India is expected to produce around 36.5 million tonnes of sugar in the new season that began on Oct. 1, a leading industry body said on Monday, up 2% from the previous season.

India, the world's biggest sugar producer and the second biggest exporter behind Brazil, churned out around 35.8 million tonnes of the sweetener in the 2021-22 season, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), a producers' body.

Mills will produce around 36.5 million tonnes of sugar during the current season after diverting 4.5 million tonnes of sugar for ethanol production.

During the previous 2021-22 season, mills diverted 3.4 million tonnes of sugar for ethanol.

During the 2022-23 sugar season, India is likely to achieve a target of 12% ethanol blending with gasoline.

India's carryover sugar stocks on Oct. 1, 2022, when the current season started, totalled around 5.5 million tonnes, and domestic consumption is expected at around 27.5 million tonnes, ISMA said in the statement.

As a result, mills can export around 9 million tonnes of sugar, ISMA said.

India is poised to allow around 5 million tonnes of sugar exports in the first tranche for the current 2022-23 season.

"We will announce this year's sugar export quota within a week," said Sudhanshu Pandey, the most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

India exported more than 11 million tonnes of sugar in the previous 2021-22 season.