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Soaring lemon, tomato prices in Chandigarh pinch pockets
While lemons are being sold for ₹150 per kg at the apni mandis in Chandigarh, retail vendors are selling them for up to ₹200 per kg
Depleting supply amid changing seasons has once again pushed the price of lemons to ₹200 per kg and that of tomatoes to ₹70 per kg.
After shooting up to ₹250 per kg in April in the beginning of summer, the price of lemons had started to fall by May and dropped to ₹80-90 per kg by August, but it has doubled yet again over the last two weeks.
While lemons are being sold for ₹150 per kg at the apni mandis, retail vendors are selling them for up to ₹200 per kg.
Lemons are bought in small quantities, most commonly 250 gm, due to which retailers and vendors charge high rates, while at the wholesale mandi in Sector 26, lemons cost between ₹40 to ₹70 per kg in bulk.
Chandigarh Market Committee auction recorder Anil Kumar said, “Over the last two weeks, the wholesale price of lemons has risen by ₹30 to ₹40 per kg. There is shortage of supply because of the changing seasons. The new season’s crop is yet to reach the market, while the summer supply is running low. It will take a week or two for the prices go back to normal.”
At the apni mandi in Sector 43, 250 gm lemons were being sold for ₹40 ( ₹160 per kg), while vendors are selling lemons for as much as ₹50 for 250 gm ( ₹200 per kg).
Harpreet Singh, a supervisor for the Punjab Mandi Board also confirmed that the price had only surged over the last 10 days.
Over the last week, the price of tomatoes has also increased from ₹60 to ₹70 per kg at the apni mandis. Back in August tomatoes were being sold for a mere ₹40 per kg. Singh attributed the price rise to tomatoes being brought to the city from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The local crop is likely to enter the market in two to three weeks, which will lead to a price drop.
Meanwhile, due to dry weather, the prices of other vegetables continue to remain unchanged since last week.
