India’s Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has ordered sugar mills to sell 16,00,000 tonnes of sugar in the domestic market from 13 to 31 October 2026, in a release order dated 13 October. Two days later, a tighter stock limit for sugar dealers took effect, halving the quantity a dealer may hold to 1,000 quintals and cutting the maximum holding period from 30 days to 15.

The release order, signed by Arvind Kumar Rawat, Director of the Directorate of Sugar and Vegetable Oils, includes 1,30,000 tonnes from Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd and 70,000 tonnes from Shri Dutt India Pvt Ltd, listed as quantity converted by refineries and allowed for domestic sale. ChiniMandi reported that the quota for the first fortnight of October was 14 lakh tonnes, that the September quota totalled 26.50 lakh tonnes and that the October 2025 quota was 24 lakh tonnes.

Conditions on mills

Under the fortnightly system, mills must sell at least 45% of their allocation in the first week and the remainder in the following week, and dispatch sugar within seven days of sale, with the date of sale taken as the date the mill issues its invoice. Mills that fail to submit first-fortnight sales details by 18 October may not be allocated any release for November 2026. The order also says no mill may sell sugar to a dealer who is not registered on the DFPD portal.

In addition to the quota, mills that have begun crushing in October may sell the sugar they produce that month during October and November.

Tighter limits for traders

The new dealer limit comes from Gazette order S.O. 5461(E), dated 6 October. It amends a 28 July order that capped dealer stocks at 4,000 quintals, held for no more than 30 days, from 1 August, and a 3 September amendment that set the cap at 2,000 quintals, or 4,000 quintals in the Kolkata area, from 15 September. From 15 October the limit is 1,000 quintals, held for no more than 15 days, except in Kolkata and its extended metropolitan areas and in Assam, where it is 2,000 quintals. The 28 July order runs until 30 November 2026 and exempts stock held on government account or by dealers nominated by state governments for the public distribution system.

In a letter to state chief secretaries dated 8 October, the department asked states to check stock declarations against physical stocks and to direct all dealers to register on the Food Stock Monitoring Portal and update their stock position every Friday. The letter said failure to register, or furnishing incorrect, incomplete or delayed information, “shall be viewed seriously”, with strict action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 against defaulters.

Bulk buyers and a price review

The 6 October order applies to dealers. Separate rules announced on 18 September allow bulk consumers using more than 10 tonnes of sugar a month to hold up to 15 days’ consumption bought on the open market, rising to 30 days only where the additional stock is sugar imported under the Advance Authorisation Scheme or the tariff rate quota, according to the Press Information Bureau. Bulk consumers must also disclose their stocks on the DFPD portal every Friday. That release did not give an end date for the arrangement.

On 14 October the government set up a committee chaired by Prof. Ramesh Chand, a former Member of NITI Aayog, to examine issues raised by sugarcane farmers. Its remit includes the demand for revision of the ex-mill minimum selling price of sugar, in the context of production costs, market realisations and the financial viability of mills. It is to report “as early as possible”; no date was set. Neither the release order nor the stock limit order gives the government’s estimate of 2026-27 production or stocks.

F&B Today’s reading

  • Analysis, for manufacturers buying through traders: expect thinner distributor stocks through the festive season, with dealers limited to 1,000 quintals and a 15-day turnover. Those with enough volume may find buying direct from mills more dependable.
  • Analysis, for bulk users: those above 10 tonnes a month remain capped at 15 days of open-market stock, so the only way to hold more cover is imported sugar under the Advance Authorisation Scheme or the tariff rate quota.
  • Analysis, on input costs: any upward revision of the ex-mill minimum selling price would lift the floor under mill prices, so buyers negotiating 2027 sugar contracts should allow for that possibility until the Ramesh Chand committee reports.