COMMODITY
Govt reduces sugar dealers’ stock holding limit to 2,000 quintals to control rising prices
Sep-02-2026

With an aim to control rising sugar prices, the food ministry has reduced the stock holding limit for sugar dealers from 4,000 quintals to 2,000 quintals. The new limit will apply from September 15 to November 30. It added that the move is aimed at ensuring adequate availability of sugar in the domestic market and checking hoarding and speculative trading. However, the stock holding limit of 4,000 quintals, first imposed on August 1, will remain unchanged for Kolkata and its extended metropolitan areas, considering the specific market requirements of the region.

Under the amended norms, a dealer cannot hold any stock for more than 30 days from the date of receipt, and cannot hold sugar, at anytime, anywhere in the country, in excess of 2,000 quintals. Explaining the exemption for Kolkata, the ministry said the region sources sugar from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and supplies it onward to the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country, which is why the earlier limit of 4,000 quintals has been retained there.

The decision comes even as retail sugar prices remain elevated. According to Consumer Affairs Ministry data, the all-India average retail price stood at Rs 63.28 per kg on August 31, up 37 per cent from Rs 46.02 a year earlier. Wholesale prices also rose 36.28 per cent year-on-year to Rs 58.40 per kg. However, industry data shows some cooling at the mill level; the ex-mill price of sugar in Maharashtra fell 30 per cent to Rs 45-46 per kg on September 1, from a peak of Rs 67 per kg on August 18.

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