India to Replace Monthly Sugar Quotas with Biweekly Quota System from September

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 28, India's Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution decided that starting from September 2026, the domestic sugar sales quota for sugar mills will be issued on a biweekly basis instead of monthly, in order to accelerate inventory turnover and curb hoarding, delayed deliveries, and speculative trading. This adjustment does not involve sugar production quotas or export quotas.

Under the new mechanism, sugar mills are required to sell at least 40% of the current quota within the first week of each biweekly cycle, with the remaining volume to be sold in the second week. Sugar already sold must be dispatched from the mill within 7 days of the transaction. The regulatory authorities can thereby shorten the supply-demand monitoring cycle and issue additional sales quotas based on changes in market supply. Bulk users are also required to keep their inventories within the scope of actual production and operational needs.

A nationwide inventory inspection of sugar mills conducted before the policy adjustment found that some enterprises had actual inventories higher than the amounts declared in their monthly reports, while others had not fully fulfilled their original monthly sales quotas. Some sugar sold at the beginning of the month was not picked up by buyers until the end of the month, slowing down spot market circulation. After a rapid rise earlier, ex-factory sugar prices in India have fallen by about 20% recently, and retail prices have also begun to decline.

India has also allowed duty-free imports of 1 million tonnes of raw sugar before October 31, and imposed inventory restrictions on distributors and bulk sugar-consuming enterprises such as beverage companies. The 2026–2027 crushing season is scheduled to begin on October 15, with October sugar production expected to exceed 1 million tonnes and November production around 4.5 million tonnes; sugar produced by mills in October can enter the domestic market directly without sales volume restrictions. The existing export ban and the above supply measures will jointly cover the peak festive consumption season.