Mumbai: The government will review a ban on sugar exports once the festival demand ends by the end of this month, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said. He said the government would decide whether to lift the ban once mills ramp up the crushing of new season cane.

The government banned sugar exports in July this year following a sharp rise in prices and the decision to review the export ban follows expectations of a bumper crop this year. Sugar mills and exporters have also been long demanding a reversal of the export ban.

Pawar said sugar production in the country is likely to touch 22.5- million tonnes to 22.7-million tonnes in the crushing season starting this month. Industry estimates put sugar output in the season ended September at around 19.5-million tonnes. India consumes about 18-million tonnes of sugar annually.

The government, Pawar said, would announce a financial package, including a minimum support price, for wheat growers for the new crop. "The cabinet will take up the issue once the prime minister returns from his foreign tour," he said.

Last year, the government failed to procure enough wheat from farmers to replenish buffer stocks as producers preferred to sell their crops to private traders for better prices. As a result, the country was forced to import wheat for the first time in six years. It has already contracted for 5.5-million tonnes of wheat purchases through global tenders.