New Delhi: The Government yesterday (Jan 11,2007) lifted the ban on sugar exports in view of the high domestic production, projected to be about 240 lakh tonnes in the current season.

"We have got firm estimates of production for the sugar year. We have taken into account all these facts and have come to the decision of lifting the ban," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters.

Domestic prices have also come down, he said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices.

The government had imposed a ban on sugar exports in July last year as part of measures to check rising prices of the commodity.

The move to lift the ban follows the decision in December when the government allowed only those traders who had imported raw sugar for processing to export the sweetner.