Samosa to kulfi, tea to pakoras, street food gets pricier

NEW DELHI: Every evening, the service lane near Laxmi Nagar Metro station transforms into a food street, with dozens of vendors lining up their colourful carts close to each other, selling everything from samosas and pizzas to chhole bhature, burgers and kulfi.

On a hot Friday evening, as the aroma of food wafts in the air, most vendors there seem downcast. They say they have been losing money over the past few months, blaming the rising inflation that has raised their input cost, forcing them to increase the prices of the items on the menu — something their customers find unpalatable.

Sonu Kumar, the owner of a samosa chaat stall, says he increased the price of the chaat from ₹25 to ₹30 a plate last month, and soon lost quite a few customers. He says that he has no other option, because the cost of ingredients — including refined oil, granulated wheat, vegetables — has increased in the last few months.

“My daily income has dipped over the past few months. I had been thinking of raising the price of samosas and waited very long, but ultimately had to bite the bullet, ” says Kumar. Most of his customers, he says, are students living in Laxmi Nagar, one of the biggest coaching hubs in the city. “I have already lost quite a few customers after raising the prices. The economics of my business is just not working anymore.”

Sonu Kumar is not the only one complaining. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, prices of crude oil and edible oils have been on the rise. India’s annual retail inflation shot up to a 17-month high in March. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was led by edible oils (18.79%), vegetables (11.64%), meat and fish (9.63%), footwear and clothing (9.4%), and fuel and light (7.52%) segments.

This is now affecting the economic dynamics of street vending. According to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), the rising inflation has affected the businesses of over 300,000 street vendors — a significant part of the informal economy — in the Capital, leading to a drop of around 40% in their income in the past couple of months, which has forced most of them to jack up the prices of the items they sell.

Not far from Sonu Kumar’s stall, Daya Shankar sells fruit salad and sources his fruit from Azadpur Sabzi Mandi. The fruits arrive at his stall around 7am, and he is ready for business by 7.30am. The cost of transporting the fruits and vegetables is shared by Daya Shankar and other fruit and vegetable vendors in the area.

“I have raised the price of one plate of fruit salad from ₹10 to ₹20, but that has resulted in the loss of customers. I had no choice as the cost of fruits in the mandi has risen by 40% and the cost of transport by 20% in the past couple of months,” says Daya Shankar.

Pradeep Kumar, who runs Punjabi Chacha Dhaba, a food stall in Safdarjung Enclave, says that he increased the price of some items on the menu but had to roll the hike back within five days after he lost half of his customers.

“The price of edible oil has increased by almost 40%... But my customers refused to accept the new prices. Now my daily income has come down from ₹1,200 a day to ₹800. I have now reduced portion sizes to cut losses,” says Kumar, 65.

Maurya, who runs a tea stall near Kasturba Gandhi Marg, has raised the price of his tea from ₹10 to ₹12 per glass but says he is luckier than others as most of his customers work in offices in the area and don’t mind the hike.