MUMBAI, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Indian sugar futures rose on Thursday on bargain buying driven by expectations that upcoming festivals would lift demand and a rise in overseas prices would help exports.

* Sugar prices in India have been under pressure in the last few months due to surplus supplies and weak demand from bulk consumers.

* At 0743 GMT, the key November contract NSMc2 was up 0.14 percent at 2,898 rupees ($46.74) per 100 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange. The contract fell to 2,887 rupees last week, the lowest since June 2012.

* "Sugar prices have fallen a lot. At the current level, mills are incurring losses," said Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association.

* "There is limited scope for downside. Retail and bulk consumer demand will improve due to festivals in the next few weeks."

* In the next few weeks, India will celebrate festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali, during which demand usually rises.

* Spot sugar was a rupee higher at 2,967 rupees per 100 kg at the Kolhapur market in the top producing Maharashtra state.

* U.S. raw sugar futures hit 6-1/2 month highs on Wednesday as traders and investors focused for a second day on the biggest sugar purchase in more than two decades by a single merchant, Louis Dreyfus. ID:nL1N0HS1BT

* India's sugar output is expected to be 25 million tonnes in the new season that started on Oct. 1, higher than the estimated demand of 23 million tonnes per annum, as heavy monsoon rains have helped boost cane yields, a leading industry body said. ID:nL3N0HC1O5

* India's carry-forward stocks of sugar on Oct. 1 are estimated at 8 million tonnes, up from 6.2 million a year earlier.

* In 2012/13, mills managed to export only a small amount of sugar due to lower global prices.

* India could export as much as 3 million tonnes of sugar in 2013/14 to get rid of excess supply, capitalising on rising demand from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

ID:nL3N0HC1O5 ($1 = 62 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)

((rajendra.jadhav@thomsonreuters.com)(+91-22-6180-7153)(Reuters Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS INDIA SUGAR/