Just before the beginning of the festive season, a very good and relieving news has emerged for the general public of the country. The prices of sugar in the market now seem to be coming under control rapidly and there has been a huge decline in its retail price within the last one month.
According to the latest data of 'Chinimandi', between August 22 and September 21, 2026, the retail sugar price in the country's capital Delhi has fallen from Rs 68 per kg to Rs 53 per kg. Apart from this, similar situation has been seen in other major cities of the country also; For example, in Kanpur the price has fallen from Rs 69 to Rs 52, in Raipur from Rs 68 to Rs 53, in Mumbai from Rs 68 to Rs 53 and in Ranchi from Rs 70 to Rs 54 per kg.
How was the condition of sugar prices in big cities of the country?
Not only this, there has been a huge decline in the prices of sugar in the rest of the country also. The price of sugar in Kolkata has come down from Rs 70 to Rs 54 per kg, in Guwahati from Rs 71 to 55, in Hyderabad from Rs 70 to Rs 53 and in Chennai from Rs 70 to Rs 56 per kg. That is, it is clear that in all the major cities of the country, there has been a historic fall in the price of retail sugar ranging from Rs 14 to Rs 17 per kg.
According to government data, sugar prices have come down significantly from their recent high levels. The average price of retail sugar in the country, which was around Rs 65 per kg in the month of August, has now come down to around Rs 58.50 per kg. Along with this, a huge decline of about 25 percent has also been recorded in the mill level i.e. ex-mill prices.
Sugar prices fell even in wholesale markets
A sharp decline in the price of sugar has been recorded in the retail markets as well as the wholesale markets. On August 22, the price of 'M-30' sugar in the wholesale market of Delhi was Rs 6,600 per quintal, which after a huge fall on September 21 came down to Rs 4,900 per quintal.
Similarly, the wholesale price in Kanpur has decreased from Rs 6,650 to Rs 4,750, in Mumbai from Rs 6,750 to Rs 4,800 and in Kolkata from Rs 6,800 to Rs 5,000 per quintal. In South India's metropolitan city Chennai, the price has also fallen from Rs 6,900 to Rs 5,400 per quintal. In this way, wholesale prices have reduced by Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,000 per quintal in different cities of the country.
Government's big decision and stock limit for bulk consumers
Keeping in mind the upcoming festive season, the government has taken an important relief step for bulk sugar consumers. The government has increased the limit for holding sugar stock for bulk consumers to 30 days.
However, there is also a rule that additional stock of more than 15 days can be kept only from eligible sugar imported from abroad under 'Advance Authorization Scheme' (AAS) and 'Tariff Rate Quota' (TRQ). At the same time, the stock limit of sugar purchased from the country's domestic market has been limited to only 15 days of consumption as before.
Status of domestic consumption and industries
The total estimate of annual domestic consumption of sugar in India is around 28 to 28.5 million tonnes. If we talk about the sugarcane crushing season of 2025-26, then during this period the total sugar production in the country was recorded at about 28 million tonnes. In the country, the share of institutional consumers like food and beverage manufacturing companies, big hotels, restaurants, catering and processed food manufacturing companies in the total sugar demand is about 60 to 65 percent, which has got a big relief from this huge decline.