Government halves sugar dealer stock limit to 2,000 quintals from September 15
India cuts sugar dealer stock limit 50% to 2,000 quintals from September 15, aiming to curb hoarding and speculation and ensure domestic availability. The limit applies through November 30, while Kolkata retains 4,000 quintals. Dealers must sell stocks within 30 days, amid ex-mill prices cooling to ₹45/kg.
New Delhi: The government has halved the permissible stock holding limit for sugar dealers to 2,000 quintals from September 15, tightening restrictions on inventory accumulation to curb hoarding and speculative trading and ensure adequate domestic availability.
The revised limit will remain in force until November 30, 2026, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a press release on Tuesday. Sugar dealers are currently allowed to hold up to 4,000 quintals, a limit that came into effect on August 1.
Ex-mill sugar prices, which had surged to around Rs 70 per kg, have now cooled to nearly Rs 45 per kg following government measures to curb the sharp rise. The Centre tightened the stockholding limit for sugar dealers to prevent excessive inventory and speculation, helping ease pressure on the market and bring ex-mill prices down.
The latest move represents a 50% reduction in the quantity of sugar dealers can hold and comes barely six weeks after the government introduced the 4,000-quintal limit.
Under the revised provisions, dealers will not be permitted to hold more than 2,000 quintals of sugar at any given time or at any location. They will also be barred from retaining sugar for more than 30 days from the date of receipt, the government said.
The government said the tighter limit would help prevent excessive stock accumulation, discourage speculative trading and facilitate the orderly movement of sugar through the supply chain, ensuring continuous availability to consumers at reasonable prices.
Kolkata and its extended metropolitan areas, however, will continue to have a higher stock holding limit of 4,000 quintals. The government said the exemption was necessary as Kolkata sources sugar from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and supplies the eastern and northeastern parts of the country.
The order also provides for intensive monitoring and physical verification of sugar stocks to ensure compliance with the revised limits.
The latest measure comes amid a series of government interventions to manage sugar availability and prices in the domestic market. These have included stock holding restrictions on sugar mills and dealers, as well as changes to the monthly sugar sale allocation mechanism.
The government said the revised dealer limit would help ensure adequate domestic availability while curbing hoarding and speculative activity.
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Source : ChiniMandi
