Bhubaneswar: The potato prices in the state have started sky-rocketing leading to additional burden on the middle class people amidst spiraling prices of onion and other kitchen essentials.
Of late, the potato prices have shot up to Rs 35 per kg in Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state. This has come as a double whammy for many households, restaurateurs and others.
“We are already irked by the persistent rise in prices of onions, which now sell at around Rs 80 per kg. Now potato prices have started rising and reached Rs 35 per kg. This has added extra burden to the pockets of the middle class,” said Ananya Das, a housewife from Jharpada.
Restaurateurs and food traders were affected by the soaring prices of the twin vegetables which are indispensable to kitchens. “Potatoes and onions are the staple vegetable items which are needed in restaurants. The escalation of prices often hit our profits as we cannot change our product prices frequently. We are now badly affected,” said Rita Swain, owner of a restaurant at Patia.
Operators of cold storages claim that increasing dependency on West Bengal for import of potatoes is leading to rising prices of the tuber in the state. “Due to bad policies of the government and lack of support to the private cold storages most of these units have now become sick. As the Potato Mission has failed to achieve the target of self-sufficiency in potato production, the state is heavily dependent on Bengal for potatoes,” said an operator of private cold storage unit from the state.
He also added that poor production in the neigbouring state and whims and fancies of the traders of the state can escalate the prices here. “Odisha has become a traders’ market where the prices of potatoes are being controlled by the Bengal traders,” he added.
A recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had criticised the government’s decisions leading to failure of Potato Mission and the poor condition of the cold storages in the state.
However, the state government recently held a high-level meeting on the cold storage issues and is said to have passed on directions to the Horticulture department to propose necessary measures that are required to be taken to make the state self-sufficient in potato production.
