Berhampur: Skyrocketing potato prices has been burning holes in consumers’ pockets allegedly due to black marketing when there is adequate stock of the tuber in the Silk City.
Reports said the price spiral is affecting the wholesalers, retailers and the consumers as well.
Rama Krushna Sahu, a wholesaler in Bada Bazaar area, said, “The current wholesale price of potato is Rs 21 per kg in Berhampur market. The traders buy 200-250 tonne potatoes from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh on a daily basis to cater to the demand of the Silk City consumers. The prices might have gone up due to poor production in these two states this year.”
Moreover, the markets remaining closed for three days in UP for Eid celebrations resulted in the price hike by Rs 4 per kg, he added.
The high price of the kitchen essential has hit the customers hard which has forced them to reduce their purchase quota.
A trader said that the wholesalers have enough stock of potato but the wholesale and retail prices of the tuber is shooting up daily.
Meanwhile, locals blamed black marketing of the produce for the price hike.
A 50-kg sack of potato is now being sold at Rs 1,100 by the wholesalers as against Rs 850 a week back. Some retailers were seen buying it at Rs 1,280 per packet, Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the retail price of potato has increased from Rs 20 to Rs 25 per kg within a week. The price rise has hit every section of the society with poor and middle-class being the worst affected.
