India, May 15 -- The central government's decision to ban sugar exports until September 30 has dealt a blow to Maharashtra's sugar industry, among the top two sugar producers in the country. The decision will also impact the state's rural economy as well as rural politics.

Maharashtra's sugar production this year was 1.8 million tonnes more than last year, and the ban, imposed in the middle of the export season, will put on hold over 30% of the total 488,000 tonnes of sanctioned sugar quota for export. It will slow capital liquidity for sugar factories, impacting payments to sugarcane farmers, say experts in the cooperative sugar industry.

Industry experts say the ban, which comes only a month after Union food secretary Sanjeev Chopra r...