Soaring prices will get your goat this Eid-al Adha

Inflation has thrown a wet blanket on Eid-al Adha this year. Goats now cost 40%-100% more, forcing Muslim families to go in for alternatives like bulls, which offers a more sacrificial meat at the same cost.

Around the same time last year, Munir Khan, 40, a resident of Mazgaon, had been able to buy three goats for Rs27,000. "This time, they are asking for 40,000 for the same. Even the weak ones cost around Rs10,000-Rs15,000. It looks like we will have to buy less," said Khan.

Goats differing in size and breed cost anywhere between Rs10,000 and Rs5 lakh — the highest a shop has demanded at the Deonar abattoir. These are mostly from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Aslam Qureshi, president of the All India Sheep and Goat Breeders and Dealers Association in Deonar, explained the reason for the jump in prices. “Due to increase in fuel cost, the price has increased to more than 40%. Sometimes, there is a problem in transporting the goats from Gujarat as people stop the truck alleging overloading. To ensure that timely delivery does not suffer, trucks take a detour from Madhya Pradesh, which shoots up the cost."

Those on a watertight budget have settled for bulls. "It is said that if a bigger animal like bull is sacrificed, it's seven times the sacrifice of one goat," said advocate Zubair Azmi, a 50-year-old resident of Madanpura.

As per tradition, meat that is sacrificed is divided into three parts — the family retains one  while the others are divided equally among relatives and the poor.

Some like Rizwan Coatwala, who have made it a point to sacrifice one goat, will be doing it outside Mumbai. "I usually keep Rs10,000 aside for it, but since the market is steep, I bought a goat for Rs7,500, inclusive of all costs, in Parbhani. We will be doing the qurbani there," said the 31-year-old resident of Dongri, who works as a client service manager.