NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): Late monsoons could be a dampener for many crops and a slap in the face of the government of the day but it turns out that this may prove to be a blessing in disguise as far as sugarcane is concerned.

With a huge deficit staring at its face, the government went into a PR exercise to boost its image and ready to spend a good sum for import of sugar apart from various measures to release the sugar from hoarders.

But the late monsoon is likely to bring relief to agriculture ministry as this is likely to result in about 10-15 per cent higher production of sugar as against the previous government estimates. Demand is around 22 million tons while the actual production is expected to be around 16-17 million tons.

The monsoon rains are crucial for sugarcane as the plantation usually starts in summer. Due to poor monsoon this year, the area under sugarcane crop had dropped to 4.25 million hectares compared with 4.38 million hectares during the same period last year.

Due to delayed monsoon, the government is now expecting better yield in sugar production from the states of UP, largest producer of sugar, followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat.