Government on Thursday allowed export of 5 lakh tonnes of additional sugar under the Open General Licence. The Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also allowed 50 lakh tonnes of food grains be released through rations shops to the above poverty line families in the country till March 2012, Food Minister K V Thomas told this to reporters soon after the meeting. Thursday's decision was taken in view of demand from various quarters for additional export permit on the back of an estimated high sugar production this season. The Sugar production in India which is the world's second largest producer is estimated to be 24.2 million tonnes, whereas the annual domestic demand for sugar is only 22.5 million tonnes. The decision on the distribution of additional 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains is expected to help the poor in the country as also create space for the new crops in the government godowns. The foodgrain output in the country has crossed 65 million tonnes as on June one while the granaries have the storage capacity of only 62 million tonnes.