NEW DELHI, March 18 (Reuters) - India will delay sugar imports until later this year as the farm minister says output may hit 17 million tonnes and top producer Brazil will provide enough sweetner from its crop to lower prices further. The forecast by farm minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday is higher than industry group, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), which last week raised its forecast by 5 percent to 16.8 million tonnes.

That helped push New York raw sugar futures SBc1 down on expectations of less imports by the world's biggest consumer.

Still, analysts said higher output in the current season to September would still be well below local demand of 23 million tonnes, keeping Indian mills on track to import about 3 million tonnes more sugar this year, although domestic prices may drop.

"According to information by states it looks like production will be 16.8 million tonnes. ISMA has agreed to this figure but my personal assessment is that production will cross 17 million tonnes this year," Sharad Pawar told a conference.

Analysts agreed with the latest government estimate.