New Delhi: With the festive season fast approaching, the common man’s household budget is set to take a hit as retail sugar prices have suddenly surged across the country. Over the past month, the average price of sugar has spiked by 8%, with certain states witnessing a steep jump of up to 15%.
According to official retail market data, the price of sugar in Delhi has risen from ₹45 to ₹49 per kg in just one month. West Bengal has seen the sharpest increase, where prices have jumped from ₹49 to ₹55 per kg. Similar inflationary trends have been recorded in Chennai (₹46 to ₹53), Mumbai (₹46 to ₹52), and Ranchi (₹47 to ₹51).
The sudden price inflation is primarily driven by a domestic production shortfall. While initial estimates projected India’s sugar production at 293 lakh tonnes for the year, actual output has settled at roughly 280 lakh tonnes—a 5% deficit. Compounding the crisis, the country’s annual consumption perfectly matches the 280 lakh tonnes produced, and India had already permitted the export of around 8 lakh tonnes earlier in the year.
The soaring prices pose a massive challenge to the Central Government’s ambitious ethanol blending programme. Under current market conditions, sugar mills find it far more profitable to manufacture and sell retail sugar rather than converting sugarcane juice or molasses into ethanol. This diversion threatens to derail the nation’s ethanol production targets just as the government prepares to shift from the E20 to the E30 fuel mandate.
In a decisive response to stabilize the market and curb hoarding, the government has swiftly imposed strict stock limits and initiated rigorous inspections of mill inventories. To ensure an immediate influx of fresh supply into the wholesale market, sugar mills have been directed to commence their ‘sugar crushing’ operations 10 to 15 days ahead of the traditional schedule.
Furthermore, to cool down record-high domestic prices, the Centre is currently preparing to import approximately 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar. If executed, this will mark the first time in a decade—since the 2016-17 season—that India has been forced to rely on foreign sugar imports to meet its domestic demand. While market experts believe the imports could marginally reduce retail prices by about ₹5 per kg, the move is critical to ensuring an adequate buffer stock for the upcoming Diwali and Dussehra festivities.