The vegetable prices in Mumbai are skyrocketing with the price of onions touching Rs 100 (€1.20) per kilogram. The increased rates are troubling both the vendors and customers as they complain about the high prices that have reduced the buying capacity of consumers.
Some customer even forego vegetables, as it is getting difficult to afford them. "Price of almost all vegetables has increased, especially that of onion. At one point onion was Rs 250 per kilogram. We were expecting the price to fall but it is still around Rs100 rupees per kilogram. It has become unaffordable. The monthly budget for vegetables has doubled from before lockdown. We have to eat, but we are rationing. We have let go of several vegetables from our plate as we can't afford to buy them," said one of them.
The high vegetable prices have not just affected the consumers' pockets but of course also reduced the earning of the vendors.
Potatoes
Potatoes have become expensive as well. The prolonged pandemic situation led to a misapprehension of the supply and demand of potatoes pushing prices to an all-India hike of 92 per cent in the span of a year. This is the steepest rise of potato prices in the last 130 months. On the other hand, onion prices also continue to surge and have witnessed a 44 per cent rise, ranging between Rs 80 and Rs 100 per kg.
According to india.com¸ prices of all other vegetables and pulses have also steadily increased through the course of the coronavirus-infused lockdown. The government has said that the sharp food inflation emerged due to less storage as compared to previous years. The last time potato prices had increased this high was almost 11 years ago in January 2010.
Source: businessworld.in