A meeting of Empowered Group of Ministers on Food has decided to export 5 lakh tonnes of sugar. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also decided to release 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains for sale to above poverty line families. The step will help create space for the new crops in the government godowns that have limitted storage capacity. The Food Ministry has proposed to distribute 5 million tonnes of grains to 11.5 crore above poverty line families via ration shops till March 2012, in addition to already allocated stocks. The foodgrain output in the country has crossed 65 million tonnes as on June one. The Sugar production in India which is the world's second largest producer is estimated to be 24.2 million tonnes in this season whereas the annual domestic demand for sugar is only 22.5 million tonnes.