Punjab: Sugar hits Rs 60/kg in wholesale market, sells at Rs 65 in retail
Sugar wholesale prices in Punjab reached a record ₹60/kg, pushing retail prices to around ₹65 despite stock limits. Retailers blamed unstable supplies and alleged hoarding, while officials ordered dealers to register, declare stocks and update inventories weekly. Shakkar, jaggery and brown sugar prices also rose 10–15%.
Wholesale prices of sugar climbed to a new high of Rs 60 per kg in mandis across Punjab on Monday amid retail karyana merchants complaining of unstable supply.
Notably, the sharp rise in domestic sugar prices has continued despite the Centre’s stock-holding limits imposed across the country from August 1 to November 30 to curb hoarding and speculative trading.
According to the Punjab Karyana Retailers Association, retail customers will now receive a kilogram of sugar at around Rs 65.
Sandeep Gupta, a grocer, said a kilogram of sugar that was in the Rs 54 and Rs 56 price bracket around a week ago was now available at about Rs 65. Notably, the price fell in the Rs 46 to Rs 48 range around a month ago.
Raising affordability concerns, Gupta said the government’s measures to keep sugar prices within a stable range after its diversion for ethanol production had failed to yield a positive result so far.
“Traders, dealers and intermediaries began stocking sugar after the government capped the limit at 4,000 quintal per dealer. It is further contributing to the rise in sugar prices without its physical movement from mills,” he added.
Omkar Goel, Faridkot-based retailer and retailers association president, said the current price spike was not supported by demand-supply fundamentals at all. “There is no rise in the demand for sugar. The festival season, during which demand soars, is yet to arrive in. An artificial perception of scarcity is being created in the market by denying retailers supply of regular sugar stocks,” he said.
GS Bedi, a consumer, said the government’s efforts aimed at ensuring adequate availability of sugar, protecting consumers and maintaining price stability woefully failed but raised concerns over the limited control over hoarding.
Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Additional Director Anjuman Bhaskar, who also looks after the Price Monitoring Cell in the state, conceded to the price spike. Looking to keep a check on the increase, she issued a notification to all DFSCs and Deputy Commissioners to take steps to curb hoarding.
“Under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Sugar (Control) Order, 2025, all dealers in Punjab will need to register themselves, declare their sugar stocks and update inventory every week with the Food Stock Monitoring portal,” she said, adding that the department would undertake steps to ensure compliance.
Worsening the problem, the price of brown sugar, shakkar and jaggery have also gone up by 10 and 15 per cent in the past one month. Shakkar’s price rose from Rs 80 to Rs 90, jaggery from Rs 80 to Rs 90 and brown sugar from Rs 75 to Rs 90.
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Source : The Tribune
