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By:

Rajendra Joshi

3 December 2024 at 9:20:26 am

Sugar industry strains as traders reap profits

Gap between ex-mill prices, retail rates raised questions Kolhapur: The Indian sugar industry is caught in a deepening crisis, with sugar mills struggling to secure remunerative prices for their produce even as traders and middlemen appear to be making substantial profits. While sugar mills are receiving between Rs 4,600 and Rs 4,800 per quintal through recent sale tenders, retail prices have remained as high as Rs 58 per kg. The widening gap between ex-mill prices and retail rates has...

Sugar industry strains as traders reap profits

Gap between ex-mill prices, retail rates raised questions Kolhapur: The Indian sugar industry is caught in a deepening crisis, with sugar mills struggling to secure remunerative prices for their produce even as traders and middlemen appear to be making substantial profits. While sugar mills are receiving between Rs 4,600 and Rs 4,800 per quintal through recent sale tenders, retail prices have remained as high as Rs 58 per kg. The widening gap between ex-mill prices and retail rates has raised serious questions about the role of intermediaries and the effectiveness of the Centre’s efforts to contain sugar prices. The margins available to traders and intermediaries have reportedly crossed 20 per cent, leaving sugar millers perplexed. At a time when both sugarcane growers and mill operators are under financial pressure, the trading chain appears to be benefiting disproportionately. The Centre must examine this growing disparity and take corrective measures to prevent speculative profiteering. Retail sugar prices began rising sharply in August, touching nearly Rs 70 per kg in some markets. The escalation added to inflationary pressures and caused concern among consumers, particularly ahead of the festive season. In response, the Centre introduced a series of measures to improve domestic availability and moderate prices. These included permitting duty-free sugar imports, initially until October 31, a deadline subsequently extended to December 31. The government also directed sugar mills to commence the crushing season from October 15 and tightened monitoring of sugar stocks. In another significant intervention, it modified the ethanol policy, restricting the diversion of sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses for ethanol production. Following these measures, sugar mills began witnessing a decline in the prices offered through their sale tenders. Recent transactions have fetched between Rs 4,600 and Rs 4,800 per quintal. Going by the conventional relationship between ex-mill prices and retail rates, sugar should ideally have been available to consumers at less than ₹50 per kg. However, retail prices continue to hover around Rs 58 per kg, pointing to a substantial disconnect between the mill gate and the consumer market. Traditionally, sugar retailing operated on relatively thin margins. Since sugar is an essential commodity, retailers often treated it as a low-margin product to attract customers who would subsequently purchase other household provisions. The margin was sometimes informally equated with the resale value of the empty 50-kg jute bags in which sugar was supplied. This was considered a nominal return for retailers. That traditional pricing mechanism, however, appears to have undergone a significant change. The widening gap between mill-level tender prices and retail rates has created considerable scope for intermediaries to extract higher margins. The critical question is whether the additional amount paid by consumers is reaching the sugar mills or remaining within the trading chain. The issue assumes particular significance in Maharashtra, where the sugarcane pricing dispute has intensified ahead of the new crushing season. Farmers’ organisations have been demanding a minimum price of Rs 5,500 per tonne for sugarcane. Millers, meanwhile, are preparing to agitate for a revision in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) framework and the restoration of a more supportive ethanol policy. The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, led by Raju Shetti, has taken a firm position that sugar mills should not be allowed to commence operations until farmers receive an acceptable price for their cane. Shetti has also drawn the state government’s attention to the unusually high retail prices of sugar, questioning why consumers continue to pay more even as mills are forced to sell at relatively lower rates. The Centre’s sudden changes to the ethanol policy have further complicated the industry’s financial position. Ethanol production had emerged as an important revenue stream for sugar mills, enabling them to diversify operations, improve cash flows and enhance their capacity to pay farmers. Restrictions on the diversion of sugarcane-based raw materials have weakened this support at a critical juncture. The resulting contradiction is difficult to ignore: farmers are demanding better cane prices, millers are struggling with shrinking realisations and policy uncertainty, while intermediaries appear to be benefiting from the gap between wholesale and retail prices. The government cannot address the sugar crisis merely by regulating mill stocks, imports and ethanol diversion. It must also examine the entire supply chain, identify where the widening margins are accruing and ensure that the benefits of market interventions reach both sugarcane growers and consumers. With nearly Rs 2 lakh crore riding on the sugar economy, allowing intermediaries to thrive while the industry’s primary stakeholders struggle would be a serious policy failure.

Women’s Verdict, Modi’s Momentum

Writer: Akhilesh Sinha
Akhilesh Sinha
Nov 15, 2025
3 min read

A surge in female turnout and a fractured opposition deliver the NDA a sweeping mandate and bury Bihar’s old spectre of jungle raj


Patna: A powerful combination of record female turnout, a fractured opposition and voter preference for stability propelled the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to a sweeping victory in the Bihar Assembly election results on Friday.


Years of targeted welfare for women, coupled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign pull and Nitish Kumar’s reputation for orderly governance, crystallised into a decisive mandate for the BJP-JD (U) led NDA.

In stark contrast, the opposition Mahagathbandhan led by Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, hobbled by infighting and an incoherent message, collapsed to a little over 30 seats while the NDA surged past 200 – echoing its landslide win of 2010.


The 2025 election was remarkable not merely for its outcome but for its mechanics. Turnout had reached an unprecedented 67 percent with women voting at staggering levels – 72 percent, roughly ten percentage points higher than men. For the first time, no booth required repolling, a rarity in a state once synonymous with intimidation and fraud. For the fifth time, Kumar secured the Chief Minister’s office, buoyed by female voters whose loyalty has only deepened after 18 years of his stewardship.


The NDA’s parties - the BJP, the Janata Dal (United), the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) and the Hindustan Awam Party - swept across the state’s cultural and linguistic belts, from Magadh and Shahabad to Angika, Mithilanchal, Tirhut and Seemanchal. The Mahagathbandhan comprising the RJD, Congress, Left parties and VIP was routed in each of these belts.


Key electorate

Women were the fulcrum of this realignment. Since 2005, a cocktail of welfare schemes, prohibition, expanded livelihoods through the ‘Didis’ and a nudge towards entrepreneurship has steadily detached women from memories of the lawlessness once tagged as jungle raj. The NDA’s slogans, including ‘Badhiya to hain Nitish Kumar,’ found their most enthusiastic audience among them. Wherever Modi campaigned, his rallies turned into consolidating machines.


Voters also rewarded continuity as Nitish Kumar’s claims of good governance and steady development resonated more strongly than the RJD’s attempts to revive anxieties about their past. The RJD’s aggressive counter-narrative merely reminded voters, especially women, of the years when physical insecurity was routine. Migrant women in particular recoiled from any hint of that era returning. Some younger voters flirted with Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of a government job for every household, but the broader youth electorate dismissed it as implausible and instead favoured the NDA’s pledges of industrial expansion.


The opposition’s disarray compounded its woes. Seat-sharing quarrels among alliance partners led to ‘friendly contests’ in at least 11 constituencies including Kahalgaon and Bachhwara in which the Mahagathbandhan failed to win a single seat. The Congress and the Left were sidelined by an RJD intent on maximising its own tally, resulting in lethal self-sabotage.


Rahul Gandhi added to the alliance’s burdens. His attempts to stoke fears of ‘vote theft’ came a cropper and his messaging on OBC issues rang hollow in a state ruled for decades by leaders from those very communities. A poorly timed foreign trip and a clumsy remark about Chhath - one of Bihar’s most sacred festivals - further alienated voters. His rhetorical ‘hydrogen bomb’ misfired, leaving the Congress with just one seat.


The Mahagathbandhan’s caste calculus, once its bedrock, was dismantled by voters who backed NDA candidates even in areas dominated by Yadavs and Muslims. Tejashwi Yadav himself faced an uncomfortably tight contest. Against this, the NDA’s cohesion and methodical alliance-building looked positively managerial. The win signals a decisive mandate delivered by electorate, which clearly privileged welfare and development over caste arithmetic, religious sentiment and nostalgia for strongmen.

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