Sugar Dealers Capped at 1,000 Quintals From 15 October 2026

The correct answer is 1,000 quintals. Under the revised norms a dealer may not hold more than this quantity at any time or at any place in the country, and the rule runs from 15 October 2026 to 30 November 2026. Option C, 2,000 quintals, is the closest wrong choice and must be read with care, because that higher ceiling applies only to Kolkata along with its extended metropolitan areas and to the State of Assam, where geography, transport and the needs of consumers in the North-East were taken into account. Options A and D, 500 and 5,000 quintals, are figures of the right order but were not set by the order. Along with the quantity, remember the time limit: stock may not be kept for more than 15 days from the date it is received, so the order caps both how much and how long.

The correct answer is Kolkata with its extended metropolitan areas and the State of Assam. These were kept outside the general ceiling and given a limit twice as large, because Kolkata draws sugar from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka and forwards it to eastern India including the North-East, while the higher figure for Assam reflects the geography of the region, the logistics of moving goods and the interest of consumers there. Options A, B and D name other large cities and states that are important to trade, but none of them was given an exemption in this order. The point to carry away is that the exemption follows a supply route, not the size of a city: Kolkata acts as a gateway for the east, which is why the stricter national ceiling would have pinched supplies to the North-East.

The correct answer is 15 per cent. Average retail sugar prices have come down by this much from the peak they touched in August, and a further easing is expected as cheaper mill prices pass down the supply chain. Option D, 28 per cent, is the trap in this question, because that is the fall in ex-mill prices, which have also stayed steady over the last three weeks; retail and ex-mill are two different stages of the chain and the figures must not be swapped. Options A and B understate the decline and are wrong. The government has asked wholesalers and retailers to pass the fall in mill prices on to buyers without delay, and has described cane growers and consumers as the two pillars of the country’s sugar policy, one needing remunerative returns and the other protection from unreasonable price rises.