India’s sugar surge puts festive budgets under pressure
Prices have reached as much as 75 rupees per kilogramme in some markets, while a government import measure has yet to bring relief before Diwali.
Sugar prices in India have risen sharply ahead of the 2026 festive season, reaching as much as 75 rupees per kilogramme in some markets, compared with 40 rupees in September 2025. The increase is raising concerns about the cost of sweets before Diwali and other major celebrations.
Government data projects sugar production at about 30.6 million tonnes for the 2025–26 season, 11 percent below an earlier estimate of 34.3 million tonnes. The government has attributed the reduction mainly to lower sugarcane cultivation and reduced rainfall during the El Niño weather pattern, while also accusing hoarders of tightening supply.
Farmers cited by Al Jazeera pointed to broader pressures, including low returns, rising labour and input costs, crop disease, soil degradation, water constraints and delayed payments from sugar mills. They also said some farmers had shifted from sugarcane to other crops. The role of ethanol production remains disputed: the government says sugar diversion to ethanol has declined, while a farmer identified it as one factor affecting supplies.
To ease domestic supply pressures, the government has authorised duty-free imports of one million tonnes of raw sugar until 31 October 2026. Sanjay Kumar, an economics professor at Delhi University, said the measure may act as a ceiling on prices rather than immediately lowering them, because Indian demand is primarily for refined sugar.
The import policy has so far not reduced prices. Aman Jaswal, a resident of Bihar, said sweets were costing 15 to 20 percent more this year. With festive sales accounting for more than 40 percent of annual revenue in India’s sweets sector, higher sugar costs are likely to weigh most heavily on households already managing tight budgets.
