Just about two months ago, sugar cost Rs 16 per kg. Gidwani predicted that it may soon pierce the psychological Rs 25 per kg mark.

“I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that sugar price will touch Rs 25 per kg in a month’s time, unless the central government intervened urgently. I have also brought this issue to the notice of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

The government had removed the stock regulation in 2002 due to excess production of sugar, Gidwani said. At that time, as per a regulated market, a trader could stock for a week 250 quintals in rural areas and 500 quintals in urban areas.

“Sugar production in the country is going to be 40 per cent less compared to last year. Many sugar mills have stopped operations due to shortage of sugarcane,” Gidwani said at a press conference here. He said that most sugar mills in the state would be forced to down their shutters by February.

The annual sugar production for the year is likely to be 200 lakh tonnes while the consumption is 230 lakh tonnes and most of the buffer stock is already in the market, he said.