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Government blames hoarding, low output for sugar price rise
Telegraph India··22 Aug
Sugar prices in India have risen sharply, with ex-mill rates climbing from about 47 rupees to 62 rupees per kilogram in ten days. The government has blamed hoarding and lower output, not ethanol blending, and ordered states to curb black-market sales. Retail prices reached 56 rupees per kilogram, prompting the government to approve import of one million tonnes of sugar.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Households buying sugar for daily use and festive cooking are already paying more, with retail prices up from 48 to 56 rupees per kilogram in weeks.
- Sweet shops, bakeries and small food businesses that rely heavily on sugar face rising input costs that could soon show up in retail prices.
- The government's move to import sugar and act against hoarding is intended to bring relief to consumers over the coming weeks.
What's Happening
- Food secretary Sanjeev Chopra said mills were creating artificial scarcity by selling stock only on paper without moving it to markets.
- Sugar production for 2025-26 is estimated at 306 lakh tonnes, down from an earlier estimate of 343 lakh tonnes, due to pest disease and waterlogging.
- The cooperative sugar mills' apex body, NFCSF, has separately sought a minimum sale price of 43 rupees per kilogram, saying mills are selling below cost.
The Ethanol Blame Game Behind the Price Fight
- The Congress and AAP have blamed the government's E20 ethanol-blending policy for diverting sugarcane and pushing up prices, a charge the Centre rejects.
- The government says the share of sugar diverted to ethanol has actually fallen, to about 9 percent in 2025-26 from around 12 percent in 2022-23.
- Nearly three-fourths of India's ethanol is now produced from grains, particularly maize, rather than sugarcane, according to government data.
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