Nationwide surge in food prices shows retail inflation far from tamed
The Hindu
Data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution’s Price Monitoring Division show that prices of 9 of the 10 key food items sampled by The Hindu — rice, wheat, tur dal, sugar, milk, tea (loose), salt (iodised, packed), potato, onion and tomato — had increased as on June 27, 2023 from a month earlier. The price of salt alone was unchanged.
A sharp increase in the retail prices of several crucial food items over the past one month — from the essential vegetables of tomato, onion and potato to the basic cereals of rice and wheat, tur dal, the commonest protein source in vegetarian households, and even loose tea — has left households and small eatery operators scrambling to juggle their budgets.
Data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution’s Price Monitoring Division show that prices of 9 of the 10 key food items sampled by The Hindu — rice, wheat, tur dal, sugar, milk, tea (loose), salt (iodised, packed), potato, onion and tomato — had increased as on Tuesday from a month earlier. The price of salt alone was unchanged.
While the 0.5% month-on-month increase in milk price was the least, the prices of all three essential vegetables had risen, with potato up 8.8%, onion 11.1% higher and tomato almost twice as high as in the last week of May. The national average retail price of tomato on June 27 was ₹46.1 per kilogram, 95% higher than ₹23.6 a month earlier.
“Even a simple Rasam has become a costly dish these days,” said Prema K. P., a homemaker at Kunduparamba in Kerala’s Kozhikode, lamenting the sharp surge in tomato prices in the State.
At the Connemara market in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, the vegetable cost ₹100 per kg on Wednesday. Only a week ago, tomato was being sold at ₹45-₹50 a kg in the State.
The price of tomato in fact was highest as per government data in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, at ₹121 a kg as on Wednesday.
Union Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said the surge in tomato prices was the result of seasonal factors. “Across the country, tomato is grown and harvested at different points of year,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu. “There are some gaps and at some points, there will be a little shortage which gets compounded by weather disturbances. It’s also highly perishable. When it rains, transportation becomes an issue,” he added.
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