Domestic Sugar Consumption Seen Falling by 200,000 Tonnes in April

08-Apr-2026 10:36 AM

Mumbai: Due to relatively cooler weather and a shortage of LPG gas, domestic sugar consumption is expected to decline by up to 200,000 tonnes during the current month (April).

In March, too, sugar consumption had dropped by approximately the same amount for these very reasons.

Prior to this, during the five-month period from October 2025 to February 2026, mills had sold 60,000 tonnes of sugar in excess of their allocated quotas.

According to available data, the Union Ministry of Food issued a total domestic sales quota of 11.05 million tonnes of sugar for the period spanning October 2025 to February 2026. This figure was 400,000 tonnes—or 3.5 percent—lower than the quota of 11.45 million tonnes allocated for the corresponding period of the 2024-25 marketing season.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Food fixed the 'free sale' quota at 2.25 million tonnes for March 2026 and 2.30 million tonnes for April; these figures were each 50,000 tonnes lower than the quotas allocated for the same months in the previous year.

According to the Director General of the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA)—the industry's apex body—while Indian millers supplied (sold) 60,000 tonnes of sugar in excess of their allocated quotas during the October-February period, sugar sales witnessed a significant decline in March, and consumption is now expected to fall further in April.

In light of this, it appears that total domestic sugar consumption for the entire 2025-26 marketing season could contract to 27.7 million tonnes—a figure lower even than the 28.1 million tonnes consumed during the 2024-25 season.