The Centre's Department of Food and Public Distribution has fixed the fortnightly domestic sugar quota for the second fortnight of November at 13 lakh metric tonnes, according to an official statement issued on Friday, news agency IANS reported.

Source: IANS via IANSLive

The allocation covers the period from November 16 to November 30. It follows the earlier allocation of 13 lakh tonnes for the first fortnight of November, from November 1 to 15.

13 lakh MTQuota, Nov 16-30
Nov 16-30Allocation period
Rs 61-66/kgRetail range, major cities (Nov 12)

In addition, sugar mills are permitted to sell, during this month, the sugar produced up to November 30, over and above their allocated sales quota for the second fortnight of November, the statement said. This applies to sugar mills that started crushing in November or had already started crushing in October.

Mills that commenced crushing during October are already permitted to sell the quantity of sugar produced during October in the month of November, the statement added.

Fortnightly system replaced monthly quotas in September

The government replaced the old monthly quota system with a fortnightly allocation system starting September 2026, to curb artificial price fluctuations, short-selling and end-of-month hoarding, IANS reported.

Under the new rules, each mill must sell at least 40 per cent of its fortnightly quota in the first week, with the remainder sold in the following week, according to a separate report on the allocation. The same report said the government has extended the deadline for duty-free imports of 1 million tonnes of raw sugar under the Tariff Rate Quota to December 31, 2026, from the earlier October 31 cutoff.

Source: BTin report on the quota

Retail sugar prices across major Indian cities now range from Rs 61 to Rs 66 per kg, as of November 12, IANS reported; the nationwide average stood at Rs 60.53 per kg on November 12, according to the BTin report.