Hoarders and black marketeers hold sway; a ₹36,000 crore sugar price scam!

• Randeep Singh Surjewala

'Expensive sugar’ has turned the sweetness of the country’s festivals ‘bitter’. Sugar prices in the country have surged from ₹45 per kilogram to ₹70–75 per kilogram in the month of August alone. This is the Modi government’s new ‘masterstroke’ that leaves the public at the mercy of profiteers and black marketeers. Describing the burden of skyrocketing sugar prices on the common man as a ‘masterstroke’, BJP leaders (such as Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Bihar minister Shravan Kumar) are lecturing the public, claiming that “Sugar was made expensive and mixed into petrol to drive away diabetes.” The result is that vehicles—cars, motorcycles, and scooters—across the country have now contracted ‘diabetes’.” These vehicles are languishing in garages, while BJP leaders proclaim that Modi-ji has saved us—having effectively shifted the entire brunt of the burden onto the vehicles themselves.

For 12 years, the Modi government has been delivering such ‘Masterstrokes’:

• Reducing ‘obesity’ by making petrol and diesel expensive.
• Encouraging people to ‘eat less and stay slim’ by raising gas prices.
• Making ‘cooking oil’ expensive to protect people from heart attacks.
• Allowing exam papers to leak to give children repeated opportunities to prepare.

1. A sugar scam costing the public ₹36,000 crore in just four months!

• The ‘opening sugar stock’ for the year 2025-26 stands at 50 lakh tonnes, which is 30 lakh tonnes less than the previous year (the opening stock for 2024-25 was 80 lakh tonnes).
• According to a press release dated April 30, 2026, by the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), sugar production in the country for the year 2025-26 was 275 lakh tonnes. In contrast, the Modi government kept peddling the falsehood that sugar production would reach 343 lakh metric tonnes.
• By the end of April, the Modi government was aware that a looming sugar shortage was staring the country in the face, as both production and opening stocks were critically low. Yet, the Modi government deliberately turned a blind eye and remained complacent.
• The average monthly sugar consumption in the country is 24 lakh tonnes. This figure rises to 30 lakh tonnes per month during the four festival months (August, September, October, and November). The reason is clear: these months witness major festivals—such as Sawan, Rakhi, Eid, Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, Navratri, Dussehra, Dhanteras, and Diwali—during which sugar consumption peaks. In other words, total sugar consumption in the country during this four-month period from August to November amounts to 12 lakh tonnes.
• As a result of the sugar shortage, market prices rose from ₹45 per kg to ₹70–75 per kg in August, coinciding with the onset of the festive season.
• On August 20, 2026, the Modi government—which had been deliberately slumbering—woke up and issued an order for the duty-free import of 10 lakh tonnes of ‘raw sugar’; a copy of this order is attached as Annexure A1.
• To pull the wool over people’s eyes, the Modi government claimed that this move would bring skyrocketing sugar prices under control. But what is the startling truth? The reality is that the sugar will be shipped from Brazil—thousands of kilometers away—a journey taking 50 to 60 days. Subsequently, this ‘raw sugar’ will need to be refined before reaching the market, requiring another 10 to 15 days. In other words, this sugar will only become available in Indian markets by the end of November—by which time the entire festive season, with its peak sugar consumption, will have already passed.
• Even if the price of sugar does not rise by more than ₹75 per kilogram during the festive season, every Indian consumer will still have to pay an additional ₹30 per kilogram for sugar over these four months of festivities. Sugar consumption during this four-month period stands at 120 lakh tonnes (30 lakh tonnes per month). This means that, based on the price hike of ₹30 per kilogram, Indian citizens will face an additional financial burden of ₹36,000 crore on the consumption of 120 lakh tonnes of sugar in just four months. This ₹36,000 crore—effectively looted from the public’s pockets—will directly benefit sugar profiteers and black marketeers. What greater example of collusion involving those in power could there be?

2. Use of 32% sugarcane for E-20 ethanol-blended petrol from November 2025 to July 2026—a major reason for the rise in sugar prices!

• Between November 2025 and July 2026, the Modi government utilized 32% of the ‘sugarcane complex’—comprising sugar, D-heavy molasses, and C-heavy molasses—for ethanol production.
• The result was a significant reduction in the quantity of sugar available to the general public in the market, leading to a rise in sugar prices.
• The Modi government reaps the praise for E-20, while the people of the country bear the consequences—including damage to their cars, scooters, and motorcycles. This is the Modi government’s ‘masterstroke’.

3. Subsidized sugar at ration shops was discontinued in 2017, creating a windfall for profiteers.

• The Congress government used to provide 500 grams of sugar per person per month to 400 million (40 crore) citizens at a subsidized rate of ₹13.50 per kilogram, bearing a subsidy of ₹18.50 per kilogram itself. The Modi government discontinued this scheme in 2017.
• Far from providing subsidized sugar at ₹13.50 per kilogram through ration shops, the Modi government has actually raised the price of sugar to ₹75 per kilogram. As the people of the country celebrate the festivals of Dussehra and Diwali, they will be repeatedly reminded of the Modi government’s blow of inflation.

Based on statement on August 27, 2026

Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala’s tweet on August 24, 2026:

Crop insurance or corporate profit? 73 lakh farmers have rejected the insurance scheme in just two years! When a field is completely submerged, a farmer receives a mere ₹ 2.30 in their account as compensation! The stark reality of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ is that farmers are exhausted from paying premiums out of their own pockets, while the claims process has become nothing more than a cruel joke played upon them.

Alarming figures regarding the system’s failure:

· Over the past two years, 73 lakh (29.6 percent) farmers have dropped out of the scheme out of frustration. · 36.83 lakh farmers in Maharashtra and 1.72 lakh in Haryana have exited the scheme. · The total insured area has fallen from 3.14 crore hectares to 2.18 crore hectares. The ‘Policy’ Model of Loot (The Structural Flaw): The loss occurs on an individual farmer’s field, yet the government determines compensation based on the ‘Average Yield’! If a farmer’s crop is completely destroyed (100% loss) by hailstorms or floods, but a flawed satellite survey estimates the average loss for the entire region at 40%, then that devastated farmer will receive a claim payout of only 40%.

The farmer will pay the full premium out of his own pocket, yet at the time of a claim, he will be short changed in the name of the ‘Average Yield’! When policies are drafted specifically to safeguard insurance companies, how can the nation’s food provider possibly be protected?