40% food price rise in 1 month

Inflation, inadequate rains blamed; state launches vegetable packages

Consumers are feeling the pinch of increasing prices of essential food items such as rice, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables which have shot up by 40 per cent in the last one month and the prices of a few items have clearly doubled. The mangoes which were sold at `40-50/kg a fortnight ago is now being sold at `60-70. Price of tomatoes has doubled. Milk prices have increased by `2 per litre.

Pavan Kumar, proprietor of Ratan Grocery Stores in West Marredpally, said, “Prices of certain vegetables including tomatoes, beans, lady’s finger, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, green chillies etc., have increased considerably in the last month. The price of tomatoes has doubled, while that of green chillies has increased to `60/70 per kg from `45/50 last month. Price of eggs has escalated from `36 a dozen to `44 and is likely to go to `4 per egg. Besides inflation, the price hike is due to inadequate rains, especially in the Telangana region and increase in transport cost.”

The price of rice (sona masoori) is rising steadily. From `28-32 in May, the different varieties of Kurnool rice now cost anything between `30-36 and is expected to be `40 soon. Raju Tanwar, proprietor of a grocery store in Karkhana, said, “Price hike has become a daily phenomenon now. Every week, the prices are rising. Even edible oil has gone up by `5 a litre. The difference becomes conspicuous when we compare the prices of last month’s or those existing a fortnight ago.”

As part of the government’s market intervention scheme, civil supplies minister D. Sridhar Babu said, “In order to control skyrocketing prices, the government has recently launched two different family packages of vegetables at `49 and `99 consisting of six and 12 varieties of vegetables respectively. It will soon be available in the five rhythu bazaars in the city in the morning hours.”