The government on Friday announced that it would allocate a fortnightly sale quota to mills from September to ensure smooth supply and prevent artificial scarcity.At present, the food ministry allocates a monthly quota to mills for the sale of sugar.Under the fortnightly quota, mills will have to sell at least 40 per cent of the allocation in the first week and the remaining quantity in the succeeding week. The ministry said it would help to monitor the demand and supply situation, respond quickly to changes in market conditions and prevent artificial scarcity.In an official statement, the Food Ministry said it is closely monitoring availability and prices of sugar, while asserting that there is no shortage of sweetener in India.The ministry said it carried out physical verification of stocks in sugar mills and the exercise revealed that some mills were holding more stocks than declared in monthly returns, while some mills sold less stock than their monthly allocations.The government further said retail prices of sugar have started to ease with ex-mill rates declining by around 20 per cent in the last few days.