To ensure adequate sugar supplies during the ongoing festive season, the government on Thursday announced tighter stockholding rules for dealers by cutting the holding period from 30 days to 15 days from the date of receipt.
The Food Ministry also announced capping the quantity dealers can hold at 1,000 quintal, as it seeks to prevent hoarding. It would be effective between October 15 and November 30.
A month ago, the government reduced the sugar stock holding limit for dealers from 4,000 quintal to 2,000 quintal.
As the 2026-27 sugar season (October-September) commences, the measure according to the Food Ministry, aims to further curb hoarding, discourage speculative trading, and prevent the accumulation of sugar stocks by dealers.
The ministry stated that the amended norms will not apply to Kolkata and its extended metropolitan areas, and Assam.
The government’s move comes as the opening stock of sugar with mills at the beginning of the new season (October–September, 2026-27) has declined to 3.75 million tonnes (MT), the lowest in over a decade, due to lower production, industry sources said.
Opening stock is maintained to meet supplies in the October–November period as sugarcane crushing commences by the end of October.
The ministry has already urged mills to commence crushing operations according to agro-climatic conditions prevailing in their respective regions.
Meanwhile, the food ministry also stated that average retail sugar prices have declined by 15% from their peak in August when prices had crossed Rs 65/kg. Correspondingly, ex-mill prices of sweetener have declined by 28% and remained stable over the past three weeks, according to the ministry.
The average retail price of sugar stood at Rs 55.62 a kg on Thursday, up 20% year-over-year. However prices have declined by 11% month-on-month, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ price monitoring cell.
Ex-mill prices have fallen 30% over the past month to Rs 4,450/quintal, while retail prices have declined 11-12% to around Rs 57.5/kg, the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) stated last week.
Sugar production declined by 27% to around 28.1 MT in the 2025-26 season from 35.8 MT in 2021-22. Consumption increased marginally, according to industry estimates, to 28.7 MT from 27.3 MT over the last five seasons.
In August, the government last month allowed duty-free imports of 1 MT of raw sugar for the first time in the last decade to augment supplies, alongside initiating a wider crackdown on hoarding and capping sugar inventories held by bulk industries. In May the government imposed a ban on sugar exports which was valid till September 30 and the ban on shipment is likely to continue.