Retail stores, quick-commerce cap sales of sugar amid high demand and low output concerns

Retail stores as well as quick-commerce platforms have capped sugar purchases amid heightened demand and concerns around lower sugar output. Stores such as Reliance and D-Mart have restricted sugar purchases to around 2-3 kg per consumer. Meanwhile, on quick-commerce platforms such as Zepto, Instamart and Blinkit, consumers are allowed to purchase two to three packets if each packet weighs 1 kg, while purchases are restricted to just one packet in the case of 5-kg packs.

Amid falling inventories, with closing stocks for the sugar season running from October 2025 to September 2026 estimated at 3.9 million tonnes — down 25% from the 2025 sugar season and 40% below the five-year average of 6.5 million tonnes —concerns over availability have intensified ahead of the festive season, according to a Crisil Intelligence report. The government has introduced a slew of measures in recent days to improve the availability of the sweetener during the festival season.

The government has imposed stock-holding limits on bulk buyers of sugar, aimed at liquidating any held-up stocks and bringing them back into the market and keeping prices in check. “No bulk consumer using or consuming more than 10 metric tonnes of sugar per month as raw material for production, consumption or use, in any manner, shall keep in stock sugar for any period exceeding fifteen days for such consumption or use,” according to a notification issued by the Department of Food and Public Distribution.

Bulk consumers such as confectioners, soft-drink manufacturers, food-processing companies, sweetmeat sellers and other institutional buyers consuming not less than 10 metric tonnes of sugar as their average monthly consumption during the last one year, excluding the current month, will fall under the provision, the department said.

Sugar prices in August have surged by about 25% in two months as demand increased ahead of the festive season. Ex-mill sugar prices in key markets in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are currently around Rs 5,700-Rs 6,000 per 100 kg, according to traders in the two states.

The average all-India retail price stood at Rs 63 per kg, 29% higher than Rs 48.70 per kg a month ago. “The trajectory of prices now depends on the monthly sales quota set by the government for September,” a trader from North India said. India’s September 2026 domestic sugar sales quota is projected by industry sources to be maintained at around 23.5 lakh tonnes. India’s lower monthly sugar quota for domestic sales did not keep pace with consumption during the 2025-26 season, contributing to tighter market availability and higher prices, according to reports.