Worrisome winter for households as prices continue to rise

For Sion resident Jitendra Juneja India’s rising GDP is a joke, and not a good one at that.

“It is a lie being fed to the public. For common people like us the prices keep on rising, and if this trend continues there will be a time when people will fight for essential commodities. The rich are getting richer but for the poor and middle class, it is a squeeze,” he says while shopping for groceries

According to Dilesh Satra, a retailer at Dadar market, both consumers and retailers are hit by rising prices. “Take for example the price of pulses like urad, which was about Rs38-40 a few months ago; now it is selling for Rs70-80. The consumer will definitely have to compromise on their intake.” Most retailers in traditional markets like Dadar attribute the price rise to recent policies “favouring multi-nationals” and the government’s commodity exchange policy that has come into practice in the past six months.

“The fluctuating prices are the result of the retailer communicating with the market on a daily basis. We have to fix our price daily and what we buy and what we sell differs. The result is a minimum increase of Rs2 per kg for the consumer. The government is employing different policies for the retailer and multi-nationals,” a retailer said.

Even the price of the new rice crop (basmati) is expected to be higher by Rs10 -12 compared to last season’s crop, even though rice has not seen the kind of hike pulses have. Last year it sold at Rs37 per kg; this year a kilo rice bag is Rs48-50. Prices of wheat grains have marginally gone up from Rs20-25, depending on the variety of wheat. For the consumer, the end price has seen a jump from between Rs2 to Rs5 per kg. The MP variety that sold for Rs20 last year is now Rs25. Meanwhile, prices of pulses, especially urad, have gone up by Rs8-10 per kg. However, vegetable prices have been stable in the wholesale market, as have been sugar and oil prices (groundnut oil is being sold Rs1,100 for 15 kg this season as compared to last season’s Rs1,040). For a fairer price of onion and potatoes, retailers say the policy of exporting onion should stop.

Even the poultry industry is feeling the heat of rising prices of wheat grains, especially of maize, the most crucial ingredient of poultry feed (maize accounts for more than 80 per cent of the cost of production of eggs and broilers). Normally, at this time of the year, maize prices range between Rs500 to Rs550 per quintal.  But this year the price has gone up to Rs900 per quintal - and in some parts of north India, it is as high as Rs1,000.

According to Kanihya Lal Gidwani, convenor of Maharashtra Congress committee for consumer protection, trade, commerce and industry, a price correction is not in sight for at least two months.

“Prices of sugar and rice have been fairly stable. Wheat prices have gone up because the procurement has reduced as the availability is not there. As a result the government cannot regulate the prices. In case of pulses, they are being imported as there is less production. Even though the government has allowed for duty-free import, the correction of prices is taking long,” he said. Gidwani added that the main reason for the price rise was that the state government had not yet notified the Centre’s stock limit and time limit policy. “The state government has referred the matter back to the Centre with suggestions. States like Delhi, which have implemented the same, have a difference of about 10-15 per cent in the pricing,” he said.

So, it is likely to be a worrisome winter for city households. “How do you think we can manage our household with a kilogram of pulse costing Rs80? Six months ago we could happily buy our groceries for Rs300. In the past few months that has increased to Rs600, and this month it has gone up to Rs1,200,” says Jitendra’s wife Geeta, a homemaker. Geeta’s household budget has tripled in less than half a year. And, worse, the prices are showing no signs of climbing down. “I don’t know when this will stop,” she says.