Free Sale Quota for 16 Sugar Mills Withheld for May
01-May-2026 03:49 PM
New Delhi. The Central Government has withheld the free sale quota for 16 sugar mills for the month of May, citing violations of stock-holding limit regulations during previous months and the submission of incorrect information regarding stock levels. Following this reduction, the total national domestic sugar sales quota for May 2026 has now dropped to 21.80 lakh tonnes. This figure is 70,000 tonnes lower than the previously announced free sale quota of 22.50 lakh tonnes.
According to a government notification, an examination and assessment of the closing stock data submitted by sugar mills in 'Form P-2' for March 2026 revealed that the reported stock figures were lower than the actual physical stock held. The quota allocated by the government to each sugar mill for sale in a given month represents a maximum ceiling; millers are prohibited from selling sugar in quantities exceeding this allocated quota.
As per regulations, if a mill sells sugar in excess of its quota, an equivalent quantity is deducted from its quota for the subsequent month. Furthermore, in cases where sales significantly exceed the permissible limit, the quota may even be suspended entirely. The situation involving these specific mills appears to fall into this category.
The government has set a total sugar sales quota of 22.50 lakh tonnes for the domestic market for May 2026, effective from today. Prior to this, a quota of 23 lakh tonnes was fixed for the month of April. In May 2025, a free sale quota of 23.50 lakh tonnes of sugar was released.
It remains to be seen whether the mills whose quotas have been withheld will eventually have them reinstated, or if those quotas will be redistributed among other sugar mills. A third possibility involves the complete withdrawal of the allocated quota.
Compared to April, the free sale sugar quota for May has been reduced by 19 percent in Karnataka and 18 percent in Maharashtra, while in Uttar Pradesh, it has been increased by 11 percent.