The Centre has tightened sugar stockholding guidelines for sellers in the course of the ongoing festive season, slicing the holding interval from 30 days to fifteen days from the date of receipt. The federal government has additionally capped the amount sellers can maintain at 1,000 quintals, because it seeks to forestall hoarding.
The revised norms will apply from October 15 to November 30, 2026. The brand new sugar season started on Thursday (October 1).
What are the brand new sugar inventory limits?
From October 15, sellers won’t be allowed to carry sugar for greater than 15 days from the date they obtain the inventory. They can even not be allowed to carry greater than 1,000 quintals at any time or place throughout the nation, the Ministry of Client Affairs, Meals & Public Distribution stated.
For Kolkata and its prolonged metropolitan areas and Assam, the restrict has been set at 2,000 quintals. The federal government stated the upper restrict takes into consideration regional provide necessities, transportation constraints and the function of Kolkata as a provide level for jap and northeastern markets.
The transfer is geared toward making certain that sugar doesn’t stay collected within the distribution chain and continues to maneuver from mills to sellers and, in the end, customers.
Sugar costs have fallen from August peak
Demand for sugar usually rises between August and November as festivals akin to Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra and Diwali enhance consumption.
Govt measures to assist home provide
The stockholding restrictions are a part of a broader set of measures taken this 12 months as issues over home sugar availability and costs elevated.
In Might this 12 months, the federal government prohibited exports of uncooked, white and refined sugar till September 30, changing the sooner “restricted” export coverage. The transfer got here amid issues over home shares and lower-than-expected manufacturing in some key sugar-producing states.
In August, the federal government additionally allowed imports of 1 million tonnes of uncooked sugar at zero obligation. The measure was geared toward cooling home costs forward of the pageant season. India usually levies a 100 per cent obligation on uncooked sugar imports.
The federal government later modified the circumstances for these imports, permitting imported uncooked sugar to be transformed into refined sugar and offered within the home market inside two months of the submitting of the Invoice of Entry. The October 31 import cut-off remained unchanged.
