Festive Squeeze: Sugar Prices Surge Over ₹4 Per Kg In A Month As Retail Rates Touch ₹65 Mark

Sugar prices across Indian kitchens have surged sharply by more than ₹4 per kg in just four weeks, driving the all-India average retail rate to ₹59.50 per kg despite a series of supply interventions by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs to calm festive demand.

Wholesale rates across key trading hubs averaged ₹55.40 per kg, reflecting a steep year-on-year jump of ₹12 to ₹13 per kg. A year ago, retail sugar stood at ₹46.50 per kg, while wholesale markets traded around ₹43.23 per kg.

Metros Face The Pinch: Kolkata Hits ₹65, Ahmedabad Retail Touches ₹60.78

Major urban centres are bearing the brunt of logistical costs and peak seasonal consumption, with retail prices varying widely across regions:

• Kolkata: Recorded the steepest retail rate among metros at ₹65 per kg, up from ₹50 during the same period last year.

• Delhi: Followed closely at ₹64 per kg, compared to ₹46 twelve months ago.

• Mumbai: Logged retail rates at ₹61 per kg, rising from ₹45 last year.

• Gujarat: State consumer affairs data shows average retail sugar hovering around ₹60.78 per kg. Wholesale ex-mill rates across Gujarat mills range between ₹5,211 and ₹5,341 per quintal for S-30 grade and ₹5,321 to ₹5,575 per quintal for M-30 grade (excluding GST).

In urban markets across Gujarat, including retail outlets in Ahmedabad, branded and packaged variants are commanding a significant premium. Refined, sulphur-free, and branded specialty sugars have already crossed the ₹62 to ₹65 per kg mark on supermarket shelves.

Production Shortfall And Global Cues Fuel Price Rally

Industry monitors attribute the price spiral to structural deficits compounded by seasonal pressure:

Lower Season Output: Overall domestic sugar production for the 2025–26 season missed initial projections, leaving a slimmer carry-over inventory.

Festive Demand Surge: Festival sweetmaking across households and commercial sweetmakers tightened physical availability.

Supply Disruption Concerns: Unseasonal crop damage, tighter international market supplies, and speculative holding in localized pockets accelerated price movement.

Government Interventions And New Season Crushing

To curb further price inflation, the Centre enforced stock holding limits, tightened market monitoring, extended the duty-free raw sugar import window until 31 December, and released advance monthly quotas—including an extra 1.4 million tonnes ahead of Diwali.

Fresh output from the 2026–27 crushing season, which started early on 8 October, has begun arriving in markets. According to data from the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF), 152 operational mills produced 8.45 lakh tonnes of sugar up to 30 October, helping ease supply constraints in key consuming regions.