Maharashtra today demanded an increase in the export quota of sugar from the current five lakh metric tonnes to 20 lakh metric tonnes. A ministerial delegation led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with demands for hiking sugar export quotas and imposing stiff duties on the import of the sweetener. Mr. Chavan was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Union Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Prateek Patil, and several ministers of the state government among others. The delegation told the Prime Minister that Maharashtra would have surplus sugar upto 40 lakh metric tonnes ahead of the new season, which is set to witness a bumper sugarcane produce. They wanted the Centre to hike the import duty on sugar from the current 20 per cent to 60 per cent to discourage import of the sweetener.