Winning Bizness Economic Desk
The country’s sugar production has climbed up 28.33 per cent so far this season to 7.79-million tonnes while the co-operative mills federation has called upon the government to increase the Minimum Selling Price (MSP).
It pointed out that declining market rates and increasing costs are threatening farmers’ pay-outs.
The National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF), which represents farmer-owned mills, said that ex-mill sugar prices have dropped by nearly Rs 2,300 per tonne since the season began and are now hovering around Rs 37,700 per tonne, despite strong output.
A point to be noted here is that as of December 15, the country’s 479 operating sugar mills have produced 7.79-million tonnes as compared to 6.07-million tonnes by 473 mills a year earlier, according to the federation’s data.
Cane crushing zoomed 25.6 per cent to 90.075-million tonnes, the federation said in a statement.
Sugar output in the western state of Maharashtra, India’s top producing state, more than doubled to 3.13-million tonnes from 1.68-million tonnes, while the Uttar Pradesh (UP) production increased to 2.505-million tonnes from 2.295-million tonnes.
Southern state Karnataka’s output moved northward to 1.55-million tonnes till December 15, 2025-26 season (October-to-September) from 1.35-million tonnes in the year-ago period.
The federation has called upon the central government to up the MSP to Rs 41 per kg and permit an additional five-lakh tonnes of sugar to be diverted for ethanol production, which it estimates would generate nearly Rs 2,000-crore.
The NFCSF welcomed the government’s decision to permit exports of 1.5-million tonnes for the current season but said that this alone would not address the liquidity crisis facing mills.
Mills face cane payment obligations over Rs 1.30-trillion this season while surplus states could block nearly Rs 28,000-crore in working capital, the federation stated.
“The co-operative sugar mills are owned by millions of farmers and sustaining the present momentum requires decisive government support,” NFCSF President Mr Harshvardhan Patil said.
India’s Marine Exports Rise 16 pc in Apr-Nov Period
Despite the tariffs imposed by the United States (US), the country’s marine products climbed northward by over 16 per cent to USD 5.75-billion in April-to-November 2025-26 on-year because of a jump in shipments across several new markets, official data showed.
In November 2025, the country exported marine products valued at USD 0.87-billion, up 15 per cent compared to the year-ago period.
Exports of marine products slid to USD 1.06-billion, a fall of over seven per cent during the April-to-October period of this fiscal (FY 26) to the US. Here, it must be pointed out that the US is India’s largest export destination.
This loss was, however, more than compensated by an increase in shipment to China, Vietnam, Belgium, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK).
A leading financial publication quoted sea-food exporters as saying that an earlier commitment of exports to the US is still being executed, especially keeping in consideration the rise in demand during Christmas despite duties.
However, after January 15, 2026, the order pipeline from the US is totally empty which may affect India’s marine exports.
The country’s sea-food exports, mostly frozen shrimp, were USD 7.45-billion in FY 25 with the US having a share of 35 per cent (USD 2.8-billion),
According to an official note, the increase in exports of marine products in the current fiscal reflect both the diversification in export destinations and a structural shift in global sourcing trends, as buyers in Asia and Europe increasingly turn toward Indian suppliers for consistently quality and competitive pricing.
The increasing market expansion presents a big opportunity for the country’s marine export potential.
India’s Gems and Jewellery Exports Up 20 pc in Nov to USD 2.51-bn
The country’s gems and jewellery exports expanded 19.64 per cent in November of this year to USD 2.51-billion as against USD 2.09-billion for the same period of the previous year, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said.
Gross imports at USD 1.89-billion in November 2025 registered a growth of 36.01 per cent as compared to USD 1.39-billion for the same period of the previous year.
The overall gross export of cut and polished diamonds registered an increase of 38.03 per cent to USD 919.74-million in November of this year.
The provisional gross exports of polished lab-grown diamonds for November at USD 76.09-million clocked a growth of 10.55 per cent over the comparative figure of USD 68.83-million for the previous year.
The total gross export of gold jewellery stood at USD 1.21-billion, a southward slide of 0.92 per cent, data showed.
“The overall gross exports of gems and jewellery at USD 18,867.43-million (Rs 1,64,219.21-crore) are showing a growth of 0.07 per cent (3.99 per cent in Rupee terms) as compared to USD 18,854.83-million (Rs 1,57,912.81-crore) for the same period of the previous year,” the GJEPC said. It was referring to the data for the period April-to-November of this year.
The overall gross imports of gems and jewellery stood at USD 1.894-billion in November, an increase of 36.01 per cent on a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis.
The overall gross imports of cut and polished diamonds registered a steep northward climb of 253.49 per cent at USD 191-million in November of this year as against just USD 54.03-million for the same period of the year-ago period.
The provisional gross export of total gold jewellery for the period of April-to-November of this year was at USD 7.930-billion, showing a growth of 10.14 per cent as against the comparative figure of USD 7.205-billion for the previous year, data showed.
India’s Inflation Rate Creeps Up in November
The country’s inflation rate moved marginally northward in November of this year but still stayed much below the country’s apex bank—the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s—four per cent target.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.71 per cent from a year earlier, the Statistics Ministry said.
Here, a point worth noting is that inflation was at an all-time low of a mere 0.25 per cent in the previous month of October (2025).
Inflation being benign, the Reserve Bank of India trimmed interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) or 0.25 per cent just a few days ago, thereby signalling that it could ease monetary policy further, going forward.
However, the RBI expects inflation to climb from January onwards and sees CPI averaging around 2.9 per cent in the three-months through March.
An important point here is that food prices, which constitute about half of the consumer basket declined 3.91 per cent. In October, there was a decline of a record 5.02 per cent.
The southward movement likely reflected last year’s high base and improved supplies after above-normal rains.
Vegetable prices fell 22.2 per cent easing from a 27.57 per cent contraction in October.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate cuts initiated by the government also played a big role in keeping overall prices under control.
Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, slowed to 4.22 per cent last month as against 4.49 per cent in October.
Food prices are on the decline owing to ample supply and are sliding despite an uptick in dairy, fruit and protein prices.
An important point here is that inflation is expected to stay well below the RBI’s four per cent target, at least until September of 2026.
