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Rise in prices of petrol, diesel leads to spike in rates of veggies, poultry in Delhi
New Delhi: Rising fuel prices have led to a spike in retail prices of kitchen staples and poultry over the last few days in the national capital
New Delhi: Rising fuel prices have led to a spike in retail prices of kitchen staples and poultry over the last few days in the national capital.
On Wednesday, onions and potatoes were selling for around ₹40 per kg and 30 per kg respectively across retail markets in the city, compared to ₹30 per kg and 20 per kg respectively on Saturday. Chicken was being sold at ₹220 per kg and eggs at ₹180 per tray, against weekend retail prices of ₹180-200 per kg and ₹160 per kg respectively.
“Price of vegetables have increased in the last two days in the wholesale market, which has had a cascading effect on the retail stores. It usually happens during the rainy season. But monsoon is yet to set in,” said Brijesh Kumar, a retailer based in Delhi’s Mehrauli retail market.
Petrol prices crossed ₹100 per litre in Delhi and Kolkata on Wednesday after fuel retailers raised petrol rates by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise in early morning. The 36th price hike in last 65 days have made petrol costlier by ₹9.81 per litre and diesel by ₹8.8 a litre since May 4. Petrol is now priced at ₹100.21 per litre and diesel at 89.59 a litre in New Delhi.
Adil Khan, chairperson of the wholesale fruits and vegetables market in Azadpur, said, “Wholesale prices have shot up because of two factors. First, demand has increased with the city scaling down lockdown regulations. Second, a disproportionate increase in fuel prices have increased transportation cost. The central government should intervene at the earliest. People’s livelihoods have been affected because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Such increase in the prices of essentials at this point would cause an immense amount of distress.”
The poultry market too is witnessing a similar phenomenon. “We are paying higher transport costs because of increase in price of auto fuels. So, wholesale and retail rates of chicken and eggs have gone up. There was a slump in the market in the last few weeks because of the lockdown. But now demand is increasing. With that, the additional burden of the transport cost has started reflecting in rates,” said Iqbal Qureshi, a poultry trader and vice-chairperson of the wholesale poultry market in Ghazipur.
Delhi was under a hard lockdown since April 19, with Covid-19 cases witnessing an unprecedented surge that left the healthcare infrastructure in the city overwhelmed. As cases started declining, the government started scaling down restrictions in a phased manner from May 31. While restaurants and hotels in the city were only allowed to entertain home delivery during the lockdown, they were allowed to open their dine-in space to a maximum of 50% capacity from June 14.
Naveen Kumar Gupta, secretary general of the All India Motor Transport Congress, said in the last several weeks, even though the prices of auto fuels were increasing, it did not reflect proportionally in prices of kitchen staples and essentials because demand for goods was low during the lockdown, even though supply capacity was stable. “As cities started relaxing regulations and allowed more economic activities, the demand has shot up. The increased price of transportation is now more likely to reflect in increased prices of essentials in the coming days,” Gupta said.
Haji Yusuf, a fruits and vegetables retailer in southeast Delhi’s Okhla said the prices are expected to go further up once monsoon arrives in the city. “It is a seasonal phenomenon,” he added.
However, poultry rates are likely to reduce slightly if the fuel prices decrease, said Rashid Khan, who runs a poultry shop in Saket. “The market is in a bad shape because of the pandemic. Demand is very low even though it has slightly increased recently with scaling down of lockdown restrictions. Fuel prices are the main factor adding to the cost burden.”
Delhi residents said the imminent price rise will add further stress on the domestic budget.
“Soon the price rise will start reflecting in food grains. Edible oil prices have already gone up. Any further increase would make things very difficult,” said Nishtha Arora, a resident of Vijay Nagar neighbourhood in north Delhi.
Omprakash Jha, a resident of Neb Sarai said a large number of households have witnessed decrease in monthly net disposable income because of the pandemic. “Prices of essential items going up during these times is a disaster. The states and union governments should do something about it.”
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