Mill-level and wholesale prices of sugar have dropped by over 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively since August 21, but retail prices continue to rule well above ₹60 a kg across the country.According to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Price Monitoring Division data, retail prices are ruling as high as ₹77 a kg, while the minimum rate is ₹42. However, most of the transactions are taking place at ₹65 a kg. Along with sugar, jaggery (gur) prices have increased to ₹90-100 a kg from ₹70 in July. Wholesale sugar prices were down by ₹50-200 on Monday with rates ranging from ₹5,300 a quintal (in Mumbai) to ₹6,000 in Chennai. Mills open rates in tender ranged from ₹4,400 to ₹4,900 a quintal for S-30 grade sugar and ₹4,600-5,000 a quintal. Prices were down marginally from Monday. Why the riseEID Parry whole-time director and CEO Muthiah Murugappan, said during the company’s recent earnings call that prevailing El Nino conditions coupled with tight inventories and a steady demand have pushed sugar prices upward. businessline correspondents across the country reported that in some kirana (grocery) shops, a kg of sugar cost ₹74 in Mumbai, ₹75 in Bengaluru, ₹72 in Mangaluru and ₹78 in Chennai. However, in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Kochi, retail prices have cooled to ₹62-65, ₹55-56 and ₹57, respectively. In the Delhi National Capital Region, sugar is sold at ₹58-70 depending on localities. While at some places there has been a drop of ₹2 in the past few days, in other places there has been no decline. 2 reasonsDelhi retailers said they cannot reduce rates as they have to maintain prices at the same level as other shops in the vicinity. They make a profit of only ₹2-3/kg in sugar and at best they can sell at their buying costs if prices drop in the wholesale market. A retailer in Mumbai said suppliers indicated that prices in the wholesale market have come down and retail prices should come down to ₹60 a kg from Wednesday.Two reasons are attributed to high retail prices. Sugar industry sources say there is no control over retail prices and it is for the States to tackle the issue. The second reason is that retailers still hold stocks bought at higher prices and they have to exhaust them before lowering prices.However, retailers in Bengaluru said prices could move up further as they are running out of old stocks. Demand hit in some citiesA wholesale trader in Kolkata said: “Retail prices should have fallen further in Kolkata. They are still high. The government needs to look into it.”A kirana shop owner in Chennai said prices have been fluctuating on the higher side.The higher price has affected demand in some cities, while not in others. In Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, the offtake has been affected, while it continues in Delhi and Kochi. Atul Mehta, a kirana store owner in Mumbai, said the rally in sugar prices has depressed demand ahead of festival season and has made people reduce their monthly purchases.A different Keralam“There are no takers for sugar. They are not buying at all. Those who are buying, they are just confined to half kilos,” said Ramesh, a Hyderabad kirana shopkeeper. He hasn’t bought sugar since last month and is still left with 50-60 kg of old stocks. In Kochi, traders said the surge in sugar did not dampen demand during Onam, with households spending more on sugar to prepare the festive favourite - payasam.In Delhi, retailers said there was no drop in demand despite high prices. However, small grocery outlets are not keeping stocks, fearing a drop in prices. The Kolkata trader does not see wholesale prices rising going ahead during the festival season, while currently retail demand is comparatively lower. ‘No clue on downtrend’Mehta said indications are that prices will come down, before the Ganesh Chaturthi.Avinash Lingam of Chettiar & Co, a wholesale sugar dealer in Mattancherry near Kochi, said sugar prices are expected to remain relatively steady over the next two months as the festival season gathers momentum, beginning with Janmashtami this week.In Delhi, retailers have no clue when prices will come down. But they anticipate the bullishness to continue till Diwali. Jeevan, a cake shop owner in Mangaluru, said prices of major ingredients in cake preparation have gone up in recent days, besides sugar. “Prices of ingredients such as egg and maida have also increased,” he said.Amid this development, quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Amazon Now, BigBaskat and Swiggy Instamart, have placed restrictions on the quantity of sugar and jaggery for certain brands in select locations.Volume curbsIn Chennai, customers are not permitted to buy more than 2 units of 1 kg sugar to their cart with the Swiggy Instamart app limiting purchase of sugar. The platforms’ strategy appears to be managing inventory amid high demand.In Delhi, there is no limit on online platform purchases as prices are more than ₹72/kg. Blinkit sells the commodity at ₹73-81/kg, Amazon ₹72, Zepto ₹65-91 and Jio Mart ₹88. In Mangaluru, Instamart offers Supreme Harvest Crystal Sugar at ₹52 a kg, a 35 per cent off against its price of ₹80 a kg.Among branded sugar, Madhur Sugar is available at Rs 65 per kg and its own brand supreme harvest is at ₹64 per kg, while Satyam brand is ₹75 in Mumbai. In Hyderabad, prices are ₹75-80.Murugappan said: “In the current month (August), sugar prices have moved well north of ₹45-46 per kg. We will need to wait and see if these hold. Perhaps once crushing starts, it is very likely that there may be some correction.”With inputs from Sindhu Hariharan, Chennai; Prabhudatta Mishra, New Delhi; Suresh Iyengar, Mumbai; AJ Vinayak, Mangaluru; V Sajeev Kumar, Kochi, Aishwarya Narendra Kumar, Bengaluru; KV Kurmanath, Hyderabad; and Mithun Dasgupta, KolkataPublished on September 1, 2026